AMUlL  &  BLYTHE 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE  FAKERS 


The  Fakers 


BY 

SAMUEL  G.  BLYTHE 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  PRICE  OF  PLACE," 


"THE  OLD  GAME,"  ETC. 


NEW  YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1913,  1914. 
BY  THE  CURTIS  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

COPYRIGHT,  1914 
BY  GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


THE  FAKERS 


The  Fakers 


CHAPTER  I 

SENATOR   WILLIAM  H.  PAXTON,  uni 
versally  known   as  The  Old  Fox  of  the 
Senate,  had  been  to  the  White  House  that 
morning,  had  wheedled  the  President  into 
promising  an  important  appointment  to  a 
man   from  the  Paxton  organization  and  was  well 
pleased  with  himself  as  he  walked  down  Pennsyl 
vania   Avenue   toward   the   Capitol.     His   hat  was 
cocked  a  bit  to  one  side,  he  swung  his  cane  jauntily, 
and  blew  little   clouds  of  smoke  into  the  sunshine 
from  the  cigar  that  tilted  upward  from  one  corner 
of   his    full-lipped  mouth.      He   smiled   genially    at 
the  passers-by  and  added  a  bow  to  his  smile  when 
ever  any  person  he  met  displayed  the  slightest  sign 
of  recognition,  which  was  frequently,  for  Paxton  was 
serving  his  twentieth  year  in  Congress  and  was  a 
familiar  figure  on  the  streets  of  Washington. 

The  Senator  was  not  only  pleased  with  himself, 
but  pleased  with  the  politics  he  had  played,  with 
the  President  who  had  helped  him  play  it,  with 
his  party,  his  prospeots,  and  his  power.  Several  of 
his  colleagues  had  candidates  for  the  place  Paxton 
had  secured  for  his  own  man,  and  the  fight  had 
been  lively  and,  at  times,  acrimonious.  By  a  judi 
cious  scheme  of  elimination  and  some  cleverly  dis 
posed  charges  against  the  others  he  had  brought 
his  own  candidate  into  a  front  position,  and,  choos- 


4  THE    FAKERS 

ing  this  particular  morning  as  the  psychological 
time,  had  descended  on  the  President,  persuaded 
him  that  the  matter  should  be  settled,  that  the  only 
safe  way  to  settle  it  was  to  appoint  the  Paxton 
applicant,  and  had  won.  He  contemplated  with 
serene  satisfaction  the  meeting  he  would  have  with 
the  Senators  who  had  lost,  and  had  already  framed 
the  little  speeches  of  joking  condolence  he  would 
make  to  them. 

As  he  passed  the  corner  of  Sixth  Street  he 
heard  the  clatter  and  clang  of  an  ambulance  be 
hind  him.  He  turned.  The  wagons  and  carriages 
on  the  broad  avenue  slowed  down,  and,  in  common 
with  all  those  on  the  sidewalk,  the  Senator  stepped 
out  to  the  edge  of  the  asphalt  to  watch  the  am 
bulance  go  by  and  to  wonder  what  unfortunate  was 
in  it  or  waiting  for  it  and  for  the  young  doctor  who 
sat  behind.  Apparently,  the  case  was  an  urgent 
one,  for  the  driver  was  leaning  forward,  and  the 
clamor  of  the  warning  gong  was  incessant.  The 
ambulance  was  half-way  down  the  block  between 
Seventh  and  Sixth  streets  when  the  Senator  reached 
the  curb  and  joined  the  people  who*  fringed  it;  star 
ing  at  the  approaching  conveyance  with  that  mix 
ture  of  curiosity  and  terror  the  progress  of  an  am 
bulance  always  excites1  when  one  passes  by  in  haste. 

Paxton,  a  masterful  man,  had  taken  a  sort  of  a 
supervisory  mental  control  of  the  situation.  He 
saw  a  little  boy,  whose  mother  had  forgotten  him 
in  her  interest  in  the  progress  of  the  ambulance, 
start  across  the  street,  dodging  between  two  wagons. 
The  man  driving  the  ambulance  did  not  see  him, 
for  he  made  no  attempt  to  stop  his  horses,  nor  to 
turn  them. 

"Look  out,  kid!"  shouted  a  man  on  the  curb. 
"Look  out  or  you'll  be  run  over!" 

The  mother  screamed.     The  boy  ran  forward, 


THE    FAKERS  5 

laughing  at  his  escape  from  restraint.  The  am 
bulance  came  swiftly,  the  gong  beating  a  strident 
tattoo. 

The  mother  screamed  again.  Then  Paxton, 
pushing  ahead  of  half  a  dozen  men  who  started 
forward,  stepped  quickly  out  on  the  pavement, 
scooped  up  the  boy,  and,  holding  him  in  his  arms, 
carried  him  back  to  the  curb  and  gave  him  to  his 
mother.  He  received  her  profuse  and  tearful 
thanks  graciously,  bowed,  expressed  his  polite  plea 
sure  over  what  he  called  a  slight  service,  and  re 
sumed  his  walk  to  the  Capitol. 

"That's  Senator  Paxton,"  said  one  man  in  the 
crowd.  "The  Old  Fox." 

In  a  moment  the  word  had  passed.  "Senator 
Paxton,"  the  onlookers  said  one  to  another.  "Old 
Fox  Paxton";  and  as  Paxton  passed  out  of  view 
the  bystanders  spoke  to  him  in  intimate  terms,  as 
if  they  all  knew  him  well,  after  the  manner  of 
Washington  people. 

It  was  half-past  ten  o'clock  when  Paxton  reached 
his  committee-room.  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  his 
assistant  secretary,  was  in  the  outer  office  opening 
letters  and  sorting  the  communications  into  piles. 

"Morning,  Tommie,"  greeted  the  Senator. 
"Much  grief  in  the  mail  this  morning?" 

"About  the  usual  amount,"  Hicks  answered,  "with 
one  particularly  pitiful  wail  from  Primston  because 
you  don't  land  that  job  for  him." 

"Fixed  it  to-day.  Wire  him  to  come  on.  Bring 
in  the  letters  I  need  to  see  in  about  fifteen  minutes. 
I  want  to  look  at  the  paper." 

Paxton  walked  into  the  private  office  and  closed 
the  door.  Hicks  stabbed  another  envelope  with 
his  opener,  slitting  it  dextrously,  took  out  the  letter 
that  was  within,  glanced  at  it  and  tossed  it  on  one 
of  his  piles.  Then  the  telephone  on  his  desk  rang. 


6  THE    FAKERS 

"Hello,"  he  said,  as  he  put  the  receiver  to  his 
ear.  "Yes,  this  is  Senator  Paxton's  committee  room 
— who's  talking,  please?  Oh,  the  Evening  Dis 
patch?  What's  that? — somebody  telephoned  in  the 
Senator  rescued  a  child  from  death  this  morning? 
Hadn't  heard  of  it — no,  the  Senator  isn't  here  yet 
— expect  him  any  minute — sure — tell  him  to  come 
down — we'll  be  glad  to  see  him." 

Hicks  hung  up  the  receiver  and  whistled.  "What 
do  you  know  about  that?"  he  asked  himself,  and 
knocked  on  the  door  of  the  private  office. 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Paxton,  as  Hicks  entered. 

l'The  Evening  Dispatch  just  called  up  and  said 
they  hear  you  rescued  a  child  from  death  on  the 
avenue  this  morning." 

Paxton  laughed. 

"Rot,"  he  said.    "Where  did  they  get  that  yarn?" 

"But  didn't  you?"  asked  Hicks,  his  disappoint 
ment  showing  in  his  voice. 

"No,  I  didn't  rescue  a  child  from  death,  nor  any 
thing  like  it.  I'm  no  hero  dashing  into  the  street 
at  the  peril  of  my  own  life  to  snatch  a  babbling, 
prattling,  golden-haired  infant  from  beneath  the 
pounding  hoofs  of  wildly  galloping  horses.  What 
I  did  do  was  to  proceed  in  a  decorous  and  elderly 
manner  across  the  asphalt  at  Sixth  Street,  pick  up 
a  little  boy  who  had  strayed  out  there  and  restore 
him  to  his  mother.  The  ambulance  was  half  a  block 
away.  It  was  no  heroic  nor  thrilling  rescue.  It 
was  simply  a  precautionary  measure,  for  the  ambu 
lance  would  have  stopped  anyhow,  and  that's  all 
there  is  to  it." 

"But  a  Dispatch  reporter  is  coming  to  see  about 
it;  what'll  I  say?" 

"Tell  him  just  what  I  have  told  you,  and  ask  him 
to  forget  it,"  and  the  Senator  resumed  the  reading 
of  his  paper. 


THE    FAKERS  7 

Hicks  returned  to  his  desk,  much  disappointed. 
He  sensed  a  story.  Hicks  liked  stories.  He  real 
ized  the  advantages  of  publicity.  He  had  planned 
to  depict  the  rescue  to  the  reporter  with  many  ex 
citing  details  and  great  declamatory  effect.  He  felt 
the  Senator  was  overlooking  an  opportunity. 

The  reporter  came  in.  Hicks  knew  him  well, 
Garson,  the  man  who  covered  the  Senate  end  of 
the  Capitol  for  the  Dispatch. 

"Senator  in?"  asked  Garson. 

"No,"  Hicks  replied.  "He  was  here,  but  had  to 
go  to  a  committee  meeting." 

"Our  people  telephoned  up  to  me  they  have  a 
story  that  the  Senator  rescued  a  kid  from  death 
down  on  the  Avenue  this  morning.  Heard  anything 
of  it?" 

"Yes,"  said  Hicks.  "He  told  me  about  it.  Good 
story,  too." 

"Well,  they've  got  the  yarn,  and  they  want  me 
to  verify  it.  Can't  get  a  statement  from  the  old 
man,  can  I?" 

"He  isn't  there,"  repeated  Hicks.  "But  it's  true. 
What  have  you  got  on  it?" 

"Oh,"  said  Garson  casually,  "I  don't  know  the 
details.  All  they  told  me  was  that  the  old  man 
was  coming  along  the  avenue  simultaneously  with 
an  ambulance  that  some  fool  of  a  driver  was  push 
ing  past  the  speed-limit  to  pick  up  a  souse  or  some 
thing  that  one  of  the  intelligent  first-aid  corps  had 
diagnosed  as  a  fractured  skull,  and  a  kid  ran  out  in 
front  of  the  horses,  and  Paxton  chased  out  and 
grabbed  the  kid  just  in  time  to  save  it  from  being 
run  down,  and  restored  it  to  its  distracted  mother, 
as  our  veracious  chronicle  of  the  event  will  un 
doubtedly  say." 

As  Garson  talked  Hicks  fashioned  the  incident 
into  narrative  form,  aided  by  an  active  and  useful 


8  THE    FAKERS 

imagination.  "That's  right,"  he  said,  "those  are 
about  the  main  points.  The  ambulance  was  coming 
to  beat  the  band,  and  the  driver  didn't  see  the  kid. 
It  was  only  a  little  bit  of  a  boy,  just  able  to  toddle 
along,  and  there  wasn't  a  chance.  Everybody  was 
paralyzed  with  fear;  that  is,  everybody  except  the 
Senator.  He  dashed  out,  plucked  the  golden- 
haired  child  from  beneath  the  pounding  hoofs  of  the 
wildly  galloping  horses — "  Hicks  had  seized  on  the 
Senator's  irony — "and  jumped  aside  just  in  time 
to  escape  death  or  severe  injury  himself  and  to  save 
the  child  from  being  awfully  mangled  on  the  pave 
ment.  The  Senator  carried  the  child  back  to  the 
curb  and  gave  him — I  guess  it  was  a  him — to  the 
hysterical  mother  and  resumed  his  walk  to  the 
Capitol  amid  the  enthusiastic  cheers  of  the  wit 
nesses  of  the  heroic  deed." 

"Say,"  commented  Garson,  "you  talk  like  a  man 
in  a  best  seller.  Back  up.  What's  the  kid's 
name?" 

"He  didn't  stop  to  inquire." 

"But  it's  straight  goods,  is  it?" 

"Sure,  and  it's  a  good  story.  It  isn't  every  day 
a  Senator  as  well  known  as  Senator  Paxton  pulls 
a  thing  like  that." 

"All  right,"  said  Garson.  "Let  me  use  your 
'phone,  will  you?  They  want  it  in  a  hurry  for  a 
flash  in  the  noon  edition." 

Whereupon  Garson  called  his  office  and  verified 
the  thrilling  rescue,  unconsciously  repeating  some 
of  the  phrases  used  by  Hicks. 

"Tell  them  to  put  some  feathers  on  it,"  whispered 
Hicks. 

"Oh,"  said  Garson,  as  he  hung  up  the  receiver, 
"they'll  do  that  all  right.  There  isn't  anything  else 
in  sight  for  a  flash." 

Hicks  waited  impatiently  for  the  noon  edition  of 


THE    FAKERS  9 

the  Dispatch,  which  went  on  the  streets  at  a  quarter 
to  twelve.  He  was  highly  gratified  to  find  a  large 
headline  across  the  entire  top  of  the  front  page, 
reading:  "Senator  Paxton  Rescues  Child  from 
Horrible  Death,"  and  a  much  paragraphed  story 
beneath,  reciting,  in  the  most  vivid  language  at 
the  command  of  one  of  the  desk-men  in  the  Dis 
patch,  the  circumstantial  story  of  the  rescue,  wherein 
the  principal  figures  were  the  famous  Senator,  who 
was  "heroic"  in  every  other  line,  the  weeping  mother, 
who  was  "distracted"  as  frequently,  and  the  child, 
who  was  a  "prattling,  sunny-haired  babe"  proceed 
ing  laughingly  to  his  inevitable  and  frightful  doom, 
had  not  the  heroic  Senator  been  on  the  spot  and 
quick  to  act.  There  was  a  four-column  picture  of 
the  Senator,  hurriedly  taken  from  the  cut  rack,  and 
the  smaller  headlines  screamed  of  heroism  and 
courage  and  bravery  and  modest  deprecation  on 
the  Senator's  part. 

"If  that  ain't  a  peach  I  don't  want  a  cent,"  com 
mented  Hicks.  When  the  second  edition  came  up 
Hicks  was  sorry  to  observe  the  seven-column  head 
had  been  dropped,  the  leads  taken  out  of  the  article, 
and  the  picture  of  the  Senator  reduced  to  two 
columns  in  width,  but  an  artist  had  drawn  a  decora 
tion  to  go  with  the  picture  of  the  Senator,  a  bold 
free-hand  sketch  of  that  agile  statesman  reaching 
beneath  the  upraised  hoofs  of  two  infuriated  horses 
and  taking  therefrom  a  child  that  looked  up  with 
joyful  trustfulness  into  his  steel-blue  eyes. 

He  was  a  little  uneasy,  however,  for  Paxton, 
while  not  averse  to  publicity,  was  particular  as  to 
its  character,  and  he  awaited  the  Senator's  coming 
with  some  apprehension.  Soon  after  three  o'clock 
Paxton  stormed  in,  with  a  copy  of  the  Dispatch  in 
his  hand. 

"Hicks,"  he  shouted,  "what  sort  of  rot  is  this?" 


io  THE    FAKERS 

"What  do  you  mean,  Senator?"  asked  Hicks, 
innocently. 

"This — this  hysterical  balderdash  about  me  be 
ing  a  hero." 

"Oh,  you  mean  that  story  in  the  Dispatch?" 

"Yes,  I  mean  that  story  in  the  Dispatch.  I 
thought  I  told  you  to  stop  it." 

"How  could  I  stop  it?"  protested  Hicks.  "They 
had  it.  I  didn't  give  it  to  them.  What's  the 
matter  with  it?  Isn't  it  a  good  story?" 

Paxton  laughed.  "Good  story,"  he  repeated. 
"I  should  say  it  is  a  good  story.  It's  so  good  that 
forty  Senators  have  already  advised  me  to  apply 
for  a  hero  medal  and  have  offered  to  testify  to 
my  general  heroism,  and  I  won't  hear  the  last  of  it 
for  weeks." 

"But,"  insisted  Hicks,  "I  don't  see  how  it  will 
do  you  any  harm  and  it  may  help  you  a  lot  out 
home." 

Paxton  looked  curiously  at  Hicks.  He  crumpled 
the  paper  and  threw  it  on  the  floor.  Then  he 
laughed  again. 

"Hicks,"  he  said,  "you  didn't  try  to  stop  it,  now, 
did  you?" 

"No,  sir;  it  was  true  and  I  couldn't  see  any  harm 
in  it.  It's  fine  publicity." 

"In  fact,"  continued  Paxton,  "you  rather  pushed 
it  along." 

"Well,"  confessed  Hicks,  "I  may  have  added  a 
thrilling  detail  here  and  there." 

"Thinking,  no  doubt,  that  you  are  working  for 
an  actor  instead  of  a  Senator,  or  that  I  do  a  high 
dive  in  a  circus  and  need  attention  from  the  press?" 

"Oh,  no,"  protested  Hicks,  "not  at  all.  It  oc 
curred  to  me  that  it  would  be  a  shame  to  waste  the 
incident,  especially  as  there  can  be  no  political  come- 


II 

back,  and  I  let  it  go.  I  would  be  glad  to  have  a 
story  like  that  printed  about  me." 

"I  am  sure  you  would;  I  am  sure  you  would," 
said  Paxton,  and  he  sat  down,  lighted  a  cigar  and 
looked  at  Hicks  for  a  long  time,  watching  that 
young  man  as  he  worked  busily  at  his  typewriter. 

"Hicks,"  said  Paxton,  finally,  "you  are  too  good 
to  be  wasting  yourself  here  as  an  assistant  secre 
tary." 

"That's  what  I  think,"  assented  Hicks,  turning 
quickly  from  his  desk  and  facing  Paxton  expec 
tantly. 

Paxton  smiled.  "I  am  glad  my  views  on  the 
subject  coincide  with  yours,"  he  said. 

"Well,"  prompted  Hicks,  after  a  moment's 
silence. 

"Oh,  nothing,"  Paxton  replied,  as  he  rose  to  go 
into  his  private  office.  He  stopped  at  the  door. 
"I'll  study  it  over,"  he  said.  "I  have  an  experi 
ment  in  mind  I  think  I  can  work  out  with  you." 


CHAPTER    II 

TOMMIE  HICKS  changed  his  name  and 
style   of   appellation    from   Tommie    to 
T.    Marmaduke    in   his    senior   year   at 
High  School  in  Salestown,  a  county  seat 
in  Senator  Paxton's  state,  where  Tommie 
was  born  and  lived  until  he  came  to  Washington. 
To  be  sure,  nobody  in  Salestown  took  the  change 
seriously,  and  all  his  boyhood  friends  continued  to 
call  him  Tom  and  Tommie,  but  in  Washington  he 
used    this    designation    for    himself    and    found    it 
was  accepted  without  question.     They  are  familiar 
with  such  things  in  Washington. 

He  was  a  delight  to  Senator  Paxton,  who  saw  in 
him  undeveloped  traits  of  demagogism  that  he  was 
sure,  with  proper  cultivation  and  conservation,  would 
enable  Hicks  to  gain  a  success  in  politics.  Paxton 
hated  demagogism,  but  he  enjoyed  demagogues. 
He  made  friends  with  the  fakers  who  came  to 
Congress — and  there  were  many  of  them — and  took 
a  huge  pleasure  in  urging  them  to  greater  efforts 
for  the  relief  of  the  common  people  and  all  the 
quackery  that  goes  with  the  professional  propa 
ganda  of  that  sort.  It  was  a  pastime  with  him,  not 
dangerous,  for  at  the  time  the  Republican  organiza 
tion  was  so  firmly  in  power  in  the  Congress  and  in 
the  Nation  that  even  the  astute  Paxton  could  see 
nothing  ahead  but  years  of  uninterrupted  rule  for 
the  conservative  organization  of  which  he  was  one 
of  the  leaders.  Paxton  had  great  private  contempt 

12 


THE    FAKERS  13 

for  the  people  as  a  mass,  holding  that  they  allowed 
themselves  to  be  fooled  so  easily  that  they  deserved 
nothing  more  than  they  allowed  themselves  to  get, 
and  using  as  examples  for  his  arguments  various 
political  charlatans  who  attained  and  held  political 
place  entirely  by  their  charlatanism. 

Hicks  was  a  type.  Even  as  a  small  boy  he  liked 
to  be  conspicuous  and  aspired  to  lead  and  was  in 
different  as  to  the  methods  he  used  to  gain  his 
ends  so  long  as  he  succeeded.  He  invariably  pro 
claimed  himself  the  leader  in  every  boyish  enter 
prise,  and  often  had  force  enough  to  hold  himself 
at  the  front.  He  never  went  to  a  party  without  re 
sorting  to  little  expedients  to  make  himself  stand 
out  from  the  other  children  at  the  gathering.  At 
a  picnic  he  was  the  boy  who  did  the  loudest  shout 
ing.  He  insisted  on  being  the  captain  and  pitcher 
at  the  ball  games,  and  always  had  an  excuse  ready 
for  his  failure  to  pitch  winning  ball.  If  another 
boy  swam  further  than  he  did,  Tommie,  observing 
his  defeat,  immediately  organized  a  cramp  within 
himself  and  gasped  with  pain  when  he  reached  the 
shore.  If  another  boy  ran  faster  than  he  did, 
Tommie  said  his  foot  hurt.  When  he  told  his 
tales,  with  his  companions  not  present,  Tommie 
always  caught  the  most  fish,  gathered  the  greatest 
number  of  hickory  nuts,  knew  where  most  birds' 
nests  were,  and  he  never,  by  any  possibility,  acknowl 
edged  he  was  not  entirely  familiar  with  any  topic 
of  current  boyish  discussion. 

A  great  egoist,  he  was  not  particularly  offensive, 
even  with  all  his  proclaimed  smartness,  for  he  was 
good-natured  and  affable.  Moreover,  he  was 
smart.  His  mind  was  brighter  than  the  minds  of 
most  of  the  other  boys  and,  while  he  never  did  get 
the  highest  marks  in  his  classes,  he  always  made 
the  showiest  recitals,  and  never  failed  to  take  ad- 


i4  THE    FAKERS 

vantage  of  a  situation  that  would  lead  to  his  own 
elevation  in  the  classrooms  of  the  school.  He 
skimmed  through  everything  he  could  skim  through, 
claiming  all  there  was  in  sight,  but,  if  put  to  it, 
he  often  could,  and  would,  make  good  his  boasts. 
And  he  had  a  talent  for  publicity.  Thomas  Went- 
worth  Hicks,  his  father,  a  judge  of  a  local  court, 
often  looked  at  Tommie  speculatively  and  wondered 
where  he  would  come  out.  He  hesitated  to  guess. 
Tommie's  sisters  were  awed  by  his  showiness,  as 
were  most  of  the  other  girls  of  his  age,  and 
Tommie's  mother  shook  her  head  over  him  and  com 
plained:  "He's  too  smart." 

Tommie  continually  thrust  himself  before  his 
elders  in  the  hope  he  would  get  a  few  commendatory 
words.  He  listened  to  the  conversations  between 
his  parents  and  the  older  people  who  came  to  his 
father's  house,  storing  in  his  retentive  memory  what 
they  said  in  order  that  he  might  show  off  later  by 
repeating  the  wisdom  of  the  comment  to  his  boy 
companions  and  claim  it  for  his  own.  He  culti 
vated  the  big  men  of  the  village  as  much  as  he 
could,  and  hung  about  law-offices  and  his  father's 
court,  trying  to  impress  himself  on  the  men  who 
were  there,  and  was  supremely  happy  when  some 
lawyer  or  merchant  patted  him  on  the  shoulder  and 
told  him  he  was  a  "bright  kid." 

Tommie  edged  his  way  through  high  school  along 
the  lines  of  least  resistance.  He  studied  Latin  and 
Greek  because  his  father  wanted  him  to,  for  he 
hated  both  languages.  He  was  one  of  the  first 
in  his  class  to  find  out  about  the  use  of  translations, 
and  when  they  reached  Cicero  and  the  Anabasis, 
after  he  had  somehow  mastered  the  intricacies  of  the 
readers  and  prose  composition  and  conjugations  and 
declensions  and  had  a  dim  realization  of  verbs  and 
their  roots,  he  procured  interlinear  translations  and 


THE    FAKERS  15 

often  read  from  these  books  instead  of  from  the 
text  when  called  upon  to  translate  in  the  class.  His 
nerve  carried  him  through.  He  found  a  book  that 
contained  the  English  equivalents  for  his  composi 
tion  work  in  these  languages  and  used  that  instead 
of  studying;  also,  at  examination  times,  he  resorted 
to  these  translations  and  boldly  copied  the  answers 
to  his  questions,  regardless  of  the  fact  that 
the  students  were  supposed  to  be  on  honor.  He 
was  prominent  in  the  literary  societies,  having  taken 
great  pains  to  be  elected  to  the  oldest  and  strongest 
one,  and  he  developed  himself  into  a  rather  fasti 
dious  dresser,  wearing  better  clothes  than  his 
companions,  and  being  the  first  boy  of  those 
of  his  particular  set  who  donned  a  cutaway 
coat. 

He  was  rather  fond  of  feminine  society,  largely 
because  he  could  make  more  of  a  personal  impres 
sion  on  the  young  ladies  than  he  could  on  the  boys, 
who  probed  into  his  superficiality  further  than  the 
girls  did,  and  never  lost  an  opportunity  to  associate 
with  men  older  than  he  was,  nor  did  he  fail  to 
try  to  impress  himself  on  them  as  their  intellectual 
equal.  There  was  a  lecture  course  at  the  high 
school,  and  six  or  seven  platform  orators  came  each 
year  to  talk  to  the  students.  T.  Marmaduke  in 
variably  sought  out  these  lecturing  stars  and  intro 
duced  himself  to  them.  In  his  senior  year  he  con 
trived  to  have  himself  elected  manager  of  the  course 
for  that  year,  and  he  took  great  pains  to  meet  the 
orators,  and  always  referred  to  them  as  his  friends. 
No  man  of  prominence  came  to  the  village  who  was 
not  besieged  by  young  Mr.  Hicks,  usually  with  a 
request  for  his  autograph,  and  led  into  a  conversa 
tion  that  would  enable  T.  Marmaduke  to  say,  later, 
in  some  company  where  there  would  be  an  impres 
sion:  "I  was  talking  to  my  friend,  Mr.  White — 


1 6  THE    FAKERS 

he's  a  member  of  Congress,  you  know,  and  he  said 
to  me " 

He  showed  an  ability  for  florid  oratory  and,  while 
he  did  not  shine  particularly  in  the  debates  of  the 
literary  society,  he  was  much  superior  to  most  of  his 
class-mates  in  declamation.  He  could  string  words 
together  so  they  sounded  well,  and  his  perorations 
always  were  flowery,  and  usually  cribbed  from  his 
father's  edition  of  Notable  Speeches  and  Debates. 
His  graduation  oration  was  highly  commended.  It 
discussed  The  Trend  of  the  Times  eloquently  and 
learnedly,  and  Tommie  stole  most  of  it  from  a  bound 
copy  of  the  Congressional  Record  he  found  in  the 
office  of  a  young  man  friend  of  his  who  was  study 
ing  law. 

He  wanted  to  go  to  college,  and  had  selected 
Harvard  as  the  institution  of  learning  on  which  he 
would  confer  his  talents,  but  his  father  died  soon 
after  the  younger  Hicks  graduated  from  high  school, 
and  college  was  out  of  the  question.  Some  years 
before  he  had  decided  to  become  a  lawyer.  He 
felt  he  had  a  talent  for  the  law.  Also,  he  was  in 
terested  in  politics,  and  he  knew  most  of  the  politics 
of  the  country — the  showy  part  of  it,  at  least — is 
in  the  hands  of  the  lawyers.  So  he  entered  the 
office  of  Judge  Wilbur  Percival  Smith,  the  lawyer  of 
Salestown,  to  "study  law"  and,  after  the  proper 
period  of  appenticeship,  to  take  his  examinations 
and  be  admitted  to  the  bar. 

T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  aged  nineteen  at  the  time 
he  began  the  study  of  law,  was  a  tall,  good-look 
ing  youth,  who  had  taken  earnest  and  frequent 
stock  of  his  personal  attributes.  He  wore  his  hair 
long,  brushed  it  back  straight  from  his  forehead, 
and  affected  flowing  ties  and  clothes  of  extreme  cut. 
When  trousers  were  baggy  T.  Marmaduke's  were 
baggier  than  any  of  the  baggy  ones  worn  by  his 


THE    FAKERS  17 

associates,  and  when  trousers  were  tight  T.  Mar- 
maduke's  the  tightest  in  the  village.  He  went  to 
the  city  as  often  as  he  could,  and  was  the  first  to 
appear  in  a  straw  hat  with  a  brilliant  ribbon  on  it. 
He  denied  himself  some  necessities  to  buy  a  pair 
of  patent-leather  shoes  with  pearl-colored  tops,  and 
he  was  the  first  young  man  in  those  parts  to  wear 
spats. 

Hicks  found  the  study  of  Coke  and  Littleton 
and  Kent  a  tedious  business.  He  much  preferred 
the  appearance  he  could  make  in  the  minor  courts 
and  never  failed  to  be  at  the  court  house  when  the 
various  terms  of  court  were  in  progress.  He  took 
his  prerogative  of  sitting  in  the  enclosure  devoted 
to  members  of  the  bar  with  a  grand  air,  and  be 
came  acquainted  with  all  the  lawyers  of  the  county, 
and  with  those  from  other  sections  who  came  to 
try  their  cases  there.  He  had  a  smattering  of  legal 
phrases  which  he  used  on  every  occasion,  and  spent 
little  time  at  his  desk.  His  father  left  some  money, 
and  T.  Marmaduke  lived  at  home  with  his  mother, 
who  thought  him  quite  the  most  wonderful  person 
in  the  world,  and  supplied  his  financial  needs  as 
well  as  she  was  able,  fondly  looking  forward  to 
the  day  when  he  should  take  his  father's  place  at 
the  local  bar. 

The  Presidential  campaign  of  1896  gave  Hicks 
a  further  excuse  for  neglecting  his  law  studies  and 
an  opportunity  for  mingling  in  politics.  He  loudly 
supported  the  gold  standard,  was  vociferously  for 
McKinley  as  against  Bryan,  organized  the  young 
men  of  his  village  into  a  First  Voters'  Club,  al 
though  he  was  not  yet  a  first  voter  himself,  and 
wrote  many  letters  to  state  and  national  head 
quarters  telling  of  the  good  work  "for  the  cause" 
he  was  doing.  He  proudly  exhibited  the  replies 
he  received,  and  by  dint  of  persistent  effort,  and 


i8  THE    FAKERS 

many  letters,  managed  to  secure  a  brief  communica 
tion  from  Mark  Hanna  himself  thanking  him  for 
the  interest  he  was  showing  in  the  loyal  endeavor 
to  redeem  the  country  from  the  Democracy,  and,  as 
Mr.  Hanna's  note  had  it:  "saving  us  from  the  ruin 
and  disaster  that  will  inevitably  arise  if  we  adopt 
the  heresy  of  free  silver  as  preached  by  the  enemies 
of  the  Republic." 

When  there  was  a  big  speaker  in  the  neighboring 
city  he  borrowed  enough  money  from  his  mother 
to  enable  him  to  go  to  hear  him,  and  he  never  came 
away  without  shaking  hands  with  the  orator,  and 
saying  a  few  kind  words  for  himself.  He  would 
loaf  for  hours  about  a  hotel  corridor  awaiting  a 
chance  to  edge  up  to  a  spell-binder  and  grasp  him 
by  the  hand. 

"Aw,  come  on,  Tom,"  a  companion  said  one  day, 
"what's  the  use  of  sticking  around  here  just  to 
shake  hands  with  that  hot-air  artist.  He  don't  care 
anything  about  you." 

"I  know  that,"  Hicks  replied,  "but  I  care  some 
thing  about  him."  And  he  waited. 

The  speaker,  who  was  Senator  Paxton,  came  down 
into  the  lobby.  Hicks  rushed  over  and  extended 
his  hand. 

"I  am  Mr.  Hicks,  Senator,"  he  said,  "Mr.  T. 
Marmaduke  Hicks  of  Salestown,  and  I  want  to 
shake  you  by  the  hand  and  tell  you  how  much  in 
spiration  I  get  from  your  magnificent  speeches." 

The  tired  campaigner  looked  at  this  ardent  young 
man  curiously. 

"Well,  son,"  he  said,  "I'm  glad  you  like  'em. 
What  did  you  say  your  name  is?" 

"T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  of  Salestown." 

"Glad  you  like  'em";  repeated  the  Senator. 
"Come  and  see  me  if  you  ever  happen  to  be  in 
Washington."  And  he  moved  away. 


THE    FAKERS  19 

"There,"  exulted  Hicks  to  his  companion,  "you 
see  what  that  means.  He  asked  me  to  come  and 
see  him  in  Washington.  Like  as  not  he'll  get 
McKinley  to  give  me  a  big  place  after  election." 

"Huh,"  scoffed  the  other,  "I  can  see  him  giving 
you  a  place !  What  a  nerve  you'd  have  to  ask  him 
for  one." 

Hicks  looked  at  his  friend  compassionately. 
"Charley,"  he  said,  "maybe  he  won't  give  me  a 
place,  but  you  can  bet  your  life  it  won't  be  because 
he  won't  have  an  opportunity." 

"Do  you  mean  you're  going  to  ask  Billy  Paxton 
for  a  job?" 

"Sure,"  Hicks  replied.  "I'm  doing  a  lot  for 
McKinley,  and  I  know  darn  well  that  I  won't  get 
anything  for  it  unless  I  do  ask.  Besides  he  told  me 
to  come  and  see  him." 

"Told  you  to  come  and  see  him,"  mimicked  his 
friend.  "Why,  I  heard  him  tell  that  to  forty  other 
people." 

"That  may  all  be,"  assented  Hicks,  genially,  "but 
perhaps  the  other  thirty-nine  won't  accept  the  in 
vitation." 


CHAPTER    III 

AFTER  the  election  Hicks  wrote  another 
letter  to  Mark  Hanna,  recalling  his  own 
efforts  in  the  campaign,  but  generously 
giving  Mr.  Hanna  due  credit.     He  re 
ceived  a  short  reply,  thanking  him   for 
his  congratulations,  a  short  letter  signed  with  a  fac 
simile  signature  done  by  a  rubber  stamp.      Hicks 
carefully  traced  the  rubber-stamp  signature  with  a 
pen,  giving  it  the  appearance  of  an  autograph  signa 
ture,  and  showed  the  latter  around  Salestown  as  an 
evidence  of  his  political  acquaintance  with  Hanna. 
Also,  he  wrote  to  Senator  Paxton,   congratulating 
him   on   his   "noble   efforts   which   had  borne   such 
glorious  fruit,"  and  saying  therein  that  he  contem 
plated  an  early  visit  to  Washington,  when  he  in 
tended  to  call  on  the  Senator  and  congratulate  him 
in  person.     The  Senator  wrote  that  he  always  was 
glad  to   see  his   constituents,   and  Hicks   carefully 
preserved  that  letter. 

He  had  decided  to  go  into  politics,  to  get  an 
office,  to  become  a  statesman.  Judge  William  Per- 
cival  Smith  advised  him  to  take  up  stenography, 
and  seek  a  secretarial  position  first,  and  Hicks 
thought  that  might  be  a  good  idea.  He  stopped 
loafing,  abandoned  his  law  books,  and  applied  him 
self  to  shorthand.  He  could  work  when  he  wanted 
to,  and  he  spent  hours  over  his  stenography  and 
practicing  on  a  typewriter.  By  inauguration  time 

20 


THE    FAKERS  21 

he  was  fairly  proficient  at  taking  dictation,  and  had 
a  good  speed  on  the  machine. 

"Mother,"  he  said  at  the  dinner-table,  one  day 
late  in  February,  "I  think  I'll  go  down  to  see 
McKinley  inaugurated,  and  call  on  Senator  Paxton." 

"That  will  be  nice,"  assented  his  adoring  mother. 

"Probably,"  continued  Hicks,  "I  shall  not  come 
back." 

"Won't  come  back?"  repeated  his  alarmed 
mother.  "Why,  Tommie,  what  do  you  mean?" 

"Oh,  I  guess  I'll  take  some  place  under  this  new 
administration.  Mark  Hanna  and  Billy  Paxton 
will  get  me  a  good  job.  I  have  letters  from  both 
of  them,  you  know." 

"Mark  Hanna,"  gasped  his  mother,  "do  you 
mean  Mr.  Mark  Hanna?" 

"Sure;  Mark  Hanna;  old  friend  of  mine;  fine 
old  chap,  too,  and  knows  I  did  a  lot  of  work  for 
McKinley." 

"What  place  will  you  take?"  asked  Mrs.  Hicks, 
gazing  at  her  son  in  frank  admiration. 

"Oh,  it's  too  early  to  say  about  that.  Something 
good." 

"Don't  you  let  them  appoint  you  ambassador," 
warned  Mrs.  Hicks.  "I  couldn't  allow  you  to  go 
away  off  to  a  foreign  country." 

"Of  course,"  responded  Hicks,  holding  out  his 
plate  for  another  piece  of  pie,  "if  they  insist  on  my 
taking  an  ambassadorship  I  suppose  I  would  have 
to  oblige,  but,"  and  he  smiled  across  at  his  mother, 
"you  needn't  worry  much  about  that,  I  guess.  I'll 
pick  out  something,  and  put  up  such  a  fight  they'll 
have  to  take  care  of  me  one  way  or  another." 

"Do  you  mean  you  won't  be  a  lawyer?"  and 
Mrs.  Hicks's  voice  broke  a  little,  for  she  had 
earnestly  wished  her  son  might  follow  in  his  father's 
profession. 


22  THE    FAKERS 

"No,"  Tommie  said,  as  he  rose  from  the  table, 
"I'll  be  a  lawyer,  all  right,  but  this  opportunity  is 
too  good  to  be  lost." 

That  afternoon  he  went  down  to  the  office  of  the 
Salestown  Beacon.  Grandison,  the  editor  and  pro 
prietor  of  the  Beacon,  was  engaged  in  setting  the 
type  for  some  auction  bills  that  meant  ten  dollars 
cash  when  delivered,  and  he  was  not  very  cordial 
when  Hicks  entered  the  composing-room. 

"Mr.  Grandison,"  began  Hicks,  "I  am  going 
down  to  Washington  to  attend  the  inauguration 
and  see  my  old  friends  Mark  Hanna  and  Senator 
Paxton." 

Grandison  was  cutting  some  leads,  and  he  stopped 
and  looked  at  his  visitor.  "You  don't  say,"  he 
commented. 

"Yes,  and  it  is  quite  probable  I  shall  not  return 
for  some  time.  In  fact,  I  expect  to  enter  the  Gov 
ernment  service." 

"Do  tell,"  said  Grandison,  resuming  his  lead- 
cutting. 

"I  thought,"  continued  Hicks,  "that  you  might 
want  to  make  mention  of  my  departure  in  the 
Beacon." 

"I'm  busy,  gol-durned  busy." 

"I  see  you  are,  and  I  thought  I  might  help  you 
by  writing  the  notice  myself." 

"Go  ahead,"  said  Grandison,  "go  as  far  as  you 
like.  There's  copy  paper  in  there." 

"Oh,"  said  Hicks,  easily,  "I  brought  down  a  little 
piece  I  fixed  up  on  my  typewriter.  I'll  put  it  on 
the  desk." 

When  Grandison  had  his  auction  bills  on  the 
press  he  went  to  his  desk  and  read  the  Hicks  com 
munication.  He  laughed  a  little,  and  hung  it  on 
the  copy-hook.  Grandison  liked  Hicks,  and  so  did 
almost  everybody  in  Salestown.  Hicks  attended  to 


THE    FAKERS  23 

that.  He  desired  to  be  everybody's  friend,  and 
was,  and  while  he  welcomed  reciprocity  in  his  friend 
ships  he  did  not  demand  it  as  a  requisite  of  con 
tinuity.  He  paid  no  attention  to  rebuffs,  nor  to 
ridicule,  nor  to  sneers.  If  a  man  tried  to  be  sar 
castic  at  his  expense  Hicks  blandly  took  the  re 
marks  at  their  word  value,  and  was  grateful.  He 
was  ubiquitous  and  urbane.  Some  of  the  village 
folks  said  his  hide  was  as  thick  as  the  hide  of  a 
rhinoceros,  and  Hicks  heard  these  comments  with 
a  smile,  and  invariably  sought  a  way  to  say  some 
thing  complimentary  about  the  detractor,  or  do  him 
a  favor  if  the  opportunity  came. 

Judge  William  Percival  Smith  read  the  notice 
about  Hicks  when  the  Beacon  came  out  on  Thurs 
day  to  Colonel  Seth  Howard,  an  old  crony  in  the 
Judge's  office. 

"Listen  to  this,  Seth,"  chuckled  the  Judge,  and  he 
began:  "Our  esteemed  fellow-townsman,  Mr.  T. 
Marmaduke  Hicks,  has  in  contemplation  a  trip  to 
Washington,  the  Capital  of  the  Nation,  to  parti 
cipate  in  the  inauguration  ceremonies  incumbent  on 
the  installation  of  William  McKinley  as  President 
of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Hicks  was  active  in  the 
campaign  that  culminated  so  gloriously  in  the  elec 
tion  of  Mr.  McKinley,  and  his  powerful  efforts  have 
been  recognized  both  by  the  Chairman,  Mark 
Hanna,  of  the  Republican  National  Committee,  and 
by  Senator  William  H.  Paxton,  of  this  State,  as 
well.  Mr.  Hicks  has  letters  from  both  of  these 
distinguished  statesmen  inviting  him  to  come  to 
Washington  and  it  has  been  intimated  that  he  will 
receive  from  the  new  Administration  an  adequate 
measure  of  reward  for  his  valiant  services  in  the 
cause  of  the  gold  standard.  We  congratulate  Mr. 
Hicks  on  this  auspicious  and  well-merited  recognition 


24  THE    FAKERS 

both  of  his  Republicanism,  and  of  his  success  as  a 
political  leader." 

"There's  only  one  thing  lacking  so  far's  I  can 
see,"  commented  Colonel  Seth  Howard,  after  the 
Judge  had  finished  the  paragraph. 

"What's  that?"  asked  the  Judge.  "It  seems  to 
me  to  be  a  pretty  reasonably  complete  statement  of 
the  case." 

"It  ought  to  be  signed  by  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks." 

"Probably,"  continued  the  Judge,  "but  you  must 
say  this  for  Tommie:  He  certainly  doesn't  lack 
the  nerve  to  push  himself  in  anywhere  he  wants  to 
go  and  I  wouldn't  be  surprised  if,  one  of  these  days, 
he'll  get  somewhere." 

"He  will,"  agreed  Colonel  Howard.  "He'll  get 
somewhere.  I  don't  know  whether  it  will  be  in 
the  Senate  or  in  jail,  but  he  won't  stand  still,  you 
can  bet  on  that." 

"Oh,  pshaw,  Colonel,"  laughed  the  judge.  "Don't 
be  too  rough  on  him.  He's  a  clever  boy,  and  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  for  example,  is  all 
cluttered  up  with  men  who  have  developed  to  a 
paying  political  basis  just  these  traits  we  observe 
in  our  young  friend  Tommie." 

"I  tell  you  he's  a  demagogue  already,  and  he 
ain't  hardly  dry  behind  the  ears  yet.  I  met  him 
the  other  day  and  what  do  you  think  he  said  to 
me — what  do  you  think  he  said?" 

"What  did  he  say?"  asked  the  Judge.  "Tommie 
is  likely  to  say  almost  anything  pleasant.  Told 
you  you  were  getting  younger  every  day,  I  suppose, 
and  that  you  are  one  of  the  great  men  of  Sales- 
town  whose  example  and  daily  walk  and  conversa 
tion  are  an  inspiration  to  him." 

"Well,"  admitted  the  Colonel,  rather  sheepishly, 
"he  did  show  some  sense  in  those  remarks,  but 
he  got  to  talking  politics  and  he  said  something 


THE    FAKERS  25 

like  this" :  and  the  Colonel  rose  stiffly  and  assumed 
an  oratorical  position. 

"  'Colonel,'  he  said,  'Colonel,  I  feel  that  there 
is  a  great  opportunity  for  me  in  public  life.  I  have 
made  a  study  of  conditions  and  I  have  warmly  re 
solved  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  people,  to  help 
lift  the  burdens  of  the  toiling  masses,  to  relieve  them 
of  the  oppressions  that  now  dismay  them,  to  lead 
them  into  the  sunlight  of  a  happier  day.'  ' 

"Hooray!"  cheered  Judge  Smith. 

'Yes,'  he  said,  'the  people  are  to  be  my  first 
concern.  I  shall  address  my  abilities  to  the  improve 
ment  of  their  political  and  social  conditions.  I  shall 
labor  for  them  and  with  them.  I  have  decided  to 
enter  politics  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  protect 
the  toiling  masses  from  the  cruel  and  rapacious 
oppression  of  the  Classes.'  ' 

"Hooray!"  shouted  Judge  Smith  again. 

"And  what  I  want  to  know,"  continued  the  Colo 
nel,  "is  how  he  squares  that  sort  of  a  program 
with  his  support  of  McKinley  and  the  goldbugs?" 

"My  dear  Colonel,"  answered  the  Judge.  "He 
doesn't  have  to  square  it.  If  he  gets  a  job  under 
this  Administration  he'll  forget  it.  If  he  doesn't 
get  a  job  he'll  have  nothing  to  square,  for  that, 
naturally,  will  be  his  platform  in  the  circumstances." 

"A  demagogue,"  insisted  the  Colonel  again,  "a 
demagogue  before  he's  dry  behind  the  ears." 

"Well,"  answered  the  Judge,  "I  guess  that's  so, 
but  so  far  as  I  can  see,  from  this  angle  there  seems 
to  be  a  better  market  for  demagogism  than  any 
other  political  commodity  in  these  days." 

"Humph,"  retorted  the  Colonel,  who  could  think 
of  nothing  better  to  say,  and  stalked  out.  He  met 
Hicks  at  the  bottom  of  the  stairs  that  led  to  the 
street  from  Judge  Smith's  office. 


26  THE    FAKERS 

"Going  to  Washington,  I  see,"  the  Colonel 
greeted  him. 

"Yes,  Colonel;  that  is  my  intention." 

"Going  to  take  a  job  under  McKinley?" 

"It  may  be." 

"Now,  look  here,  young  man,"  and  the  Colonel 
was  indignant,  "how  in  blazes  are  you  going  to 
join  out  with  this  gold-bug  administration  and  be 
lieve  in  all  that  stuff  about  the  common  people  you 
handed  to  me  the  other  day?" 

"Why,  Colonel,"  Flicks  replied,  suavely,  "re 
forms  can  be  more  easily  accomplished  from  within 
than  from  without  the  party  organization.  If  the 
people " 

"Great  God!"  shouted  the  old  man,  "quit  it. 
Don't  insult  my  intelligence  by  that  sort  of  rot. 
I'll  tell  you  where  you  belong,  not  here  in  this  com 
munity,  but  out  in  the  prairies  with  the  Populists. 
Good  afternoon." 

Hicks  looked  after  him  and  laughed  a  little. 
"There  might  be  something  in  that,  too,"  he  said 
to  himself. 

Hicks  made  his  preparations  and  went  to  Wash 
ington,  where  he  arrived,  with  many  thousands  of 
other  people,  on  the  night  of  March  second,  1897. 
He  had  written  to  a  friend  who  had  a  place  in  one 
of  the  departments,  and  had  the  address  of  a  good 
boarding-house.  He  secured  a  room,  and  spent  the 
next  three  days  in  happy  enjoyment  of  the  crowds, 
the  clamor,  the  parades,  the  fireworks,  the  glitter 
and  the  glamour  of  an  inauguration  and  its  after 
math.  He  called  on  Senator  Paxton,  found  him 
out,  but  secured  a  gallery  ticket  for  the  ordinary 
sessions  of  the  Senate  from  the  secretary,  and 
jammed  his  way  in  on  the  busy  March  third  and 
saw  the  hurly  burly  of  the  closing  hours  of  a  Con 
gress.  He  watched  the  proceedings  carefully,  tried 


THE    FAKERS  27 

to  pick  out  the  famous  Senators  on  the  floor,  and 
was  somewhat  hurt  because  Senator  Paxton  did  not 
send  for  him  and  give  him  a  ticket  admitting  him 
to  the  inauguration  ceremonies  in  the  Senate  cham 
ber  and  on  the  stand  outside.  However,  he  was 
up  early  on  March  fourth,  secured  a  good  position 
in  the  crowded  place,  and  was  much  impressed  with 
the  simple  ceremony  that  made  Mr.  McKinley 
President,  and  retired  Grover  Cleveland  to  private 
life. 

Senator  Paxton  was  busy,  exceedingly  busy.  The 
change  of  administration  from  Cleveland  to  McKin 
ley  brought  many  patronage  problems  to  him,  and 
he  was  early  and  eagerly  trying  to  find  places  for 
some  of  his  leaders  in  the  home  State.  Hicks 
called  three  or  four  times  a  day  at  his  office,  but 
each  time  was  shunted  off.  He  stood  for  hours  in 
the  corridor  waiting  for  Paxton  to  come  out,  un 
conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  Senator  had  a  side 
door  to  his  office  through  which  he  escaped  from 
the  office-seekers.  Hicks  carried  himself  jauntily, 
although  secretly  much  depressed  because  of  the 
tardy  recognition  of  his  merits  and  claims,  and  ex 
erted  himself  to  make  the  Paxton  corps  of  clerks 
and  secretaries  his  friends.  He  sat  a  good  deal 
in  the  outer  office  of  the  Paxton  suite,  reading  the 
papers,  and  waiting  for  the  Senator,  positively  re 
fusing  to  be  turned  away  by  any  of  the  subordinates 
who  constantly  assured  him  there  was  no  chance 
for  him,  and  that  he'd  better  go  home. 

One  day  as  Hicks  was  waiting  in  the  outer  office, 
about  two  weeks  after  he  arrived  in  Washington, 
the  door  to  the  inner  room  opened  and  Senator 
Paxton  came  out  with  a  great  bunch  of  papers  in 
his  hands. 

"Look  here,  Madden!"  the  Senator  shouted  to 
his  secretary,  "you're  a  thousand  miles  behind  with 


28  THE    FAKERS 

this  correspondence  What's  the  matter?  Can't 
you  handle  it?r 

"I'm  doing  the  best  I  can  with  it,"  Madden  an 
swered,  sulkily.  "You  don't  seem  to  appreciate 
that  since  McKinley  came  in  your  correspondence 
has  increased  about  six  hundred  per  cent,  and  you 
are  making  us  handle  it  with  the  same  old  force." 

"That's  so,"  admitted  Paxton.  "I  hadn't  thought 
of  that.  Get  another  stenographer,  or  a  typewriter 
or  something,  and  clean  it  up." 

Hicks  started  eagerly  from  his  chair.  "Senator," 
he  said,  coming  forward,  "let  me  take  hold  of  it." 

"Who  are  you?"  asked  Paxton,  brusquely.  "I 
never  saw  you  before." 

Hicks  winced.  "Oh,  yes,  you  have,"  he  replied. 
"I  met  you  out  in  Salestown,  and  you  wrote  to  me. 
I  have  the  letter  here." 

He  took  out  the  well-worn  letter.  Paxton 
glanced  at  it  and  smiled.  "That  won't  get  you  very 
far,"  he  said.  "Who  are  you?" 

"I  am  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  of  Salestown,  and 
I  am  a  competent  stenographer  and  typewriter,  and 
I  want  a  job  with  you." 

Paxton  looked  at  him.  He  saw  a  tall,  well- 
dressed  young  man,  his  eyes  alight  with  eagerness, 
a  young  man  who  had  a  bright  face  and  an  agreeable 
manner. 

"From  Salestown,  are  you?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Who  do  you  know  there?" 

"Everybody;  I  have  studied  law  with  Judge 
William  Percival  Smith." 

"Studied  with  Billy  Smith,  have  you?  Well, 
that's  a  good  start.  Will  he  recommend  you?" 

"I  think  so." 

Paxton  turned  to  his  secretary.  "Madden,"  he 
said,  "wire  Judge  Smith  at  Salestown  and  ask  him 


THE    FAKERS  29 

about  this  young  man.  If  he's  all  right  put  him  on 
extra  in  the  morning.  We've  simply  got  to  get 
this  mess  of  stuff  cleaned  up.  Meantime,  try  him 
out  on  the  typewriter  and  see  if  he  is  any  good. 
Give  him  some  of  the  form-letter  stuff." 

Paxton  turned  and  went  back  to  his  room  without 
another  look  at  Hicks.  Madden  said:  "Pull  off 
your  coat,  young  man,  and  get  busy.  Take  that 
machine  over  there  and  use  these  addresses  for  this 
letter." 

He  handed  Hicks  a  printed  form.  "Copy  it 
exactly,"  he  ordered,  "using  these  addresses,  and  do 
them  as  neatly  as  you  can,  so  the  rubes  will  think 
they  have  received  a  personal  letter  from  the 
Senator." 

Hicks  took  the  form  letter  and  the  list  of  ad 
dresses,  and  began  work  at  the  typewriter  assigned 
to  him,  but  his  heart  was  heavy  within  him,  for  he 
felt  that  his  letter  from  Senator  Paxton  was  a  form 
letter,  also. 


CHAPTER  IV 

JUDGE  SMITH  telegraphed  to  Senator 
Paxton  that  Hicks  was  honest  and  smart, 
came  of  a  good  family  and  had  no  bad 
habits.  He  wrote  at  length  detailing  some 
of  the  Hicksian  personal  characteristics, 
and  Senator  Paxton  read  the  letter,  laughed,  and 
asked  Madden:  "How's  he  doing?" 

"Pretty  fair,"  the  harassed  Madden  replied. 
"He's  a  reasonably  good  typewriter,  seems  to  be 
intelligent,  is  willing  to  work  and  to  learn,  and  com 
panionable  enough  around  the  office,  although  he 
doesn't  underestimate  his  own  abilities  any." 

"Judging  from  what  Billy  Smith  says,"  com 
mented  the  Senator,  "he  has  several  kinds  of  pep 
in  him,  and  may  be  worth  watching.  Put  him  on 
temporarily  and  give  him  a  good  work-out." 

Whereupon,  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks  became  an 
attache  of  the  office  of  Senator  William  H.  Paxton 
at  a  wage  of  sixty  dollars  a  month.  Madden 
thought  he  might  remain  two  or  three  months,  until 
the  great  rush  was  over.  Paxton  dismissed  him  from 
his  mind.  Hicks,  himself,  had  no  other  idea  than 
a  permanent  billet  in  the  office,  and  he  was  right. 
He  grew  expert  on  the  typewriter,  practiced  his 
stenography  assiduously,  cultivated  Madden  in  every 
possible  way,  was  willing  to  labor  nights  and  Sun 
days,  and  at  the  end  of  the  third  month  was  a  fix 
ture,  and  had  his  pay  raised  to  a  hundred  dollars  a 
month,  by  the  simple  Paxtonian  expedient  of  placing 

30 


THE    FAKERS  31 

him  on  the  Government  roll  as  an  assistant  com 
mittee  clerk,  which  not  only  gave  Hicks  more  money, 
but  relieved  Paxton  of  the  necessity  of  paying 
Hicks's  sixty  dollars  out  of  his  own  pocket. 

Hicks  had  a  natural  bent  for  politics,  and  he 
studied  Paxton's  methods  carefully.  He  had  a  re 
tentive  memory,  and  applied  it  to  all  of  the  minor 
matters  that  came  up  in  the  office.  He  remembered 
names  and  dates  and  kept  close  track  of  the  files. 
He  studied  State  patronage  questions,  briefed  ap 
plications,  watched  the  Senate  when  he  could,  read 
the  newspapers  assiduously,  and  kept  in  touch  with 
all  important  measures,  and,  especially,  those  in 
which  his  chief  was  interested.  He  started  a  little 
clipping  bureau  of  his  own,  reading  the  State  papers 
closely  for  all  articles  and  editorial  comment  having 
a  bearing  on  Paxton's  activities,  saved  up  small 
items  for  the  correspondents  of  the  home  news 
papers  and,  before  he  had  been  there  six  months, 
knew  as  much  about  the  inside  routine  of  the  office 
as  Madden  did,  who  had  been  with  Paxton  for 
fifteen  years. 

One  morning  he  arrived  at  the  office  at  eight 
o'clock  and,  to  his  astonishment,  found  Senator  Pax- 
ton  there,  fussing  and  fuming  for  a  stenographer. 

"Where's  Madden?"  asked  the  Senator,  crossly. 

"He  doesn't  get  here  until  nine  o'clock." 

"Damn!"  exploded  Paxton.  "I  want  to  dictate 
a  few  paragraphs  of  a  speech." 

"I  can  take  it,"  said  Hicks,  eagerly. 

"Are  you  a  stenographer?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Come  on,  then,  and  don't  hash  it  any  more 
than  you  can  help." 

Paxton  dictated  swiftly  for  half  an  hour.  Hicks 
concentrated  every  atom  of  intelligence  he  had  on 
his  work  and  when  Paxton  had  finished  and  ordered: 


32  THE    FAKERS 

"Make  a  carbon  of  it,"  Hicks  went  nervously  to 
his  typewriter  and  began  to  translate  his  notes. 

He  handed  the  typewritten  sheets  to  the  Sen 
ator,  and  stood  anxiously  by  while  the  great  man 
read  them.  Every  time  the  Senator  made  a  pencil 
mark  on  the  paper  Hicks  felt  his  heart  sink  within 
him,  but  he  was  radiant  when  the  Senator  said,  after 
he  had  finished  reading:  "Not  so  bad,"  and  that 
night,  at  the  boarding-house,  told  his  table  com 
panions  that  he  was  now  the  confidential  stenog 
rapher  for  Senator  Paxton. 

Six  months  later  this  statement  became  reason 
ably  true,  for  Hicks  made  himself  so  useful,  and 
worked  with  such  earnestness  and  zeal  and  intelli 
gence,  that  Senator  Paxton  appointed  him  assistant 
to  Madden,  and  increased  his  salary  to  sixteen  hun 
dred  dollars  a  year  by  and  with  the  aid  of  a  friendly 
contingent-expenses  committee  of  the  Senate,  of 
which  the  chairman  was  an  old  friend  of  the  Sen 
ator's.  This  enabled  Hicks  to  move  to  another 
boarding-house,  and  he  chose  the  establishment  of 
Mrs.  Lake. 

Washington  is  freckled  with  boarding-houses. 
There  are  sections  of  the  Capital  that  resemble 
Bloomsbury  in  London,  where  row  after  row  of 
what  were  once  fashronable  residences  are  now, 
and  were  in  Tommie's  time,  establishments  of  vary 
ing  merit  as  places  of  entertainment,  occupied  by 
various  grades  of  boarders,  ranging  from  penurious 
or  precarious  statesmen  to  clerks  and  other  employ 
ees  in  the  service  of  the  Government.  The  house 
conducted  by  Mrs.  Lake  and  her  daughter  was  on 
a  good  street  and  excellent  of  its  kind.  Mrs.  Lake 
was  the  widow  of  a  man  who  had  had  some  prop 
erty,  and  more  debts,  and  had  been  compelled  to 
support  herself  after  the  lawyers  had  finished  the 
work  of  settling  the  estate.  She  was  well  bred,  a 


THE    FAKERS  33 

good  housekeeper,  and  a  woman  of  attractiveness 
and  ability.  She  was  a  wise  boarding-house  mis 
tress.  Her  parlors  and  her  dining-room  and  her 
hall  were  well  furnished.  She  knew  the  charm  of 
shaded  lamps  and  cosy  corners,  and  employed  them 
both  numerously.  Her  rugs  were  good,  her  pic 
tures  copies  of  old  masters,  her  service  careful  and 
expert  and  her  food,  while  not  lavishly  served,  was 
of  the  best  quality  and  well  cooked.  The  brass 
door  knobs  always  shone  brightly,  the  small  negro 
who  opened  the  door  was  immaculate  in  a  blue  uni 
form  and  white  cotton  gloves,  and  had  a  welcoming 
smile  that  was  an  essential  part  of  his  training. 
Occasionally,  Mrs.  Lake  entertained  a  transient, 
sent  by  some  former  boarder,  but  most  of  her  peo 
ple  stayed  with  her  for  long  periods. 

Tommie  took  a  small  room,  on  the  top  floor, 
which  he  secured  for  sixty  dollars  a  month,  a  sum 
quite  insignificant,  as  Mrs.  Lake  assured  him,  when 
compared  with  the  social  advantages  he  would  enjoy 
while  under  her  roof.  These  social  advantages  and 
the  resultant  social  requirements  dawned  on  Hicks 
on  the  first  Friday  night  he  dined  at  the  boarding- 
house.  Everybody  dressed  for  dinner  on  Friday 
nights.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  establishment. 

To  be  sure,  Mrs.  Lake  and  her  daughter  dressed 
for  dinner  every  night  and  sat  in  regal  state  at  a 
small  table  near  the  door  through  which  the  wait 
resses  came  into  the  room,  thus  giving  a  •  "real, 
swell  tone"  to  the  establishment,  as  Mrs.  Lake  put 
it,  but  the  other  guests — not  boarders — guests — ate 
in  their  usual  day  costumes.  Mrs.  Lake  rather  in 
sisted  that  the  modish  resources  of  the  establish 
ment  should  be  displayed  on  one  night  of  the  week, 
and  it  had  come  to  be  accepted  that  everybody 
there  should  tog  out  in  their  very  best  on  that  night. 
Usually,  in  order  to  give  an  added  air  of  distinc- 


34  THE    FAKERS 

tion,  Mrs.  Lake  served  a  canape  of  caviar  that 
night,  instead  of  beginning  the  meal  with  the  cus 
tomary  soup. 

Tommie  did  not  know  of  this  custom,  and  he  was 
astounded  when  he  came  down  to  dinner  on  his 
first  Friday  night,  and  found  the  women,  some  of 
them  in  low-cut  bodices,  and  some  in  bodices  with 
guimpes  removed,  but  all  with  sections  of  more  or 
less  fascinating  necks  and  bosoms  displayed,  and  the 
men  rigged  out  in  dinner  coats,  evening  coats,  and 
stiff  white  shirt  fronts.  Even  the  Texan,  who  had 
made  it  a  tenet  of  his  politics  not  to  wear  a  "dress- 
suit,"  compromised  between  his  principles  and  his 
politeness  by  wearing  a  low-cut  waistcoat  beneath 
the  long  and  flowing  frock  coat  in  which  he  made 
his  impassioned  appeals  for  the  welfare  of  the  peo 
ple  on  the  floor  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
Tommie  stared  a  little  at  the  unwonted  display  of 
elegance,  but  was  neither  disconcerted  nor  dismayed. 
Instead  he  nodded  cheerfully  at  the  men  and  women 
who  were  sitting  stiffly  in  their  chairs  and  toying 
with  their  minute  portions  of  caviar,  and  proceeded 
easily  to  the  table  where  Mrs.  Lake  and  her 
daughter  sat,  both  regally  arrayed. 

"My  dear  Mrs.  Lake,"  he  said,  "why  didn't  you 
tell  me  everybody  would  dress  up  to-night?" 

"Why,  Mr.  Hicks,"  that  lady  replied,  "I  sup 
posed  you  knew.  I  am  very  sorry." 

"Oh,"  laughed  Tommie,  "it  is  a  matter  of  small 
consequence.  I'll  know  next  time." 

Next  day  Hicks  started  on  his  search  for  suit 
able  attire.  After  much  consideration,  he  decided 
to  buy  a  dinner-coat,  compromising  between  the  de 
mand  of  his  position  and  the  supply  of  his  purse. 
Tommie  and  his  friends  called  the  coat  he  bought 
a  Tuxedo.  It  was  a  good  Tuxedo  and  it  fitted  him 
well  after  a  few  alterations  were  made.  Tommie 


THE    FAKERS  35 

knew  Senator  Paxton  had  his  clothes  made  in  New 
York,  and  hoped  to  be  able  to  patronize  the  same 
tailor  one  day,  but,  for  the  present,  he  concluded  a 
ready-to-wear  coat  would  do. 

He  spent  an  afternoon  in  the  stores  on  F  Street 
shopping  for  suitable  studs  and  cuff-links,  and,  after 
beginning  at  the  largest  jewelry  store,  and  pricing 
real  pearls,  finished  the  expedition  with  the  purchase 
of  some  imitation  pearls  and  buttons  that  matched. 
The  shop-keeper  told  him  the  imitations  could  not 
be  told  from  the  genuine  except  by  an  expert,  and 
Tommie  was  sure  there  were  no  experts  in  his  home- 
circle. 

He  had  consulted  a  friend  at  the  Capitol  about 
a  high  hat,  or,  at  least,  a  crush  hat,  to  go  with  it, 
but  the  friend  had  told  him  he  could  wear  his  derby 
and  be  in  good  form  and  that  gratified  Tommie, 
but  he  almost  bought  a  crush  hat.  He  had  seen 
pictures  in  the  magazines  that  presented  tall  and 
exquisitely  dressed  men,  carrying  crush  hats  in  vari 
ous  modish  crush-hat  positions,  and  he  felt  it  would 
give  him  much  added  distinction  if  he  could  come 
down  to  the  big  assembly-room  in  the  boarding- 
house  with  his  hat  carelessly,  but  gracefully,  dis 
posed  beneath  his  arm,  and,  when  going  out,  could 
open  it  with  a  flourish  and  a  pop  at  the  door. 

On  the  following  Friday  night  he  came  down  to 
dinner  ten  minutes  late,  in  order  to  give  the  others 
ample  time  to  be  at  their  places,  and  made  an  im 
pressive  entrance,  clad  in  his  new  clothes.  He  had 
placed  his  handkerchief  in  his  sleeve,  for  he  had 
observed  that  an  under-secretary  at  one  of  the  em 
bassies,  whom  he  had  closely  scrutinized  while  that 
rising  young  diplomatist  was  talking  to  Senator  Pax- 
ton,  carried  his  handkerchief  in  his  sleeve.  Tommie 
looked  around  the  room.  So  far  as  he  could  ob 
serve  no  person  there  had  his  handkerchief  in  his 


36  THE    FAKERS 

sleeve,  and  Tommie  saw  to  it  that  all  near  hi-m 
were  made  aware  of  this  crowning  touch  of  ele 
gance.  Indeed,  he  took  out  his  handkerchief  so 
often  that  one  of  his  table  companions,  the  motherly 
wife  of  a  Representative,  asked  anxiously  whether 
he  had  a  cold  and  offered  to  supply  him  with  a 
remedy. 


H 


CHAPTER  V 

ICKS  spent  the  next  year  and  a  half 
comfortably  with  Mrs.  Lake,  labo 
riously  with  Senator  Paxton,  and  prof 
itably  to  himself,  in  a  way,  for  he  skit 
tered  through  a  sort  of  law  course  in 
a  sort  of  a  law  school,  devoting  two  nights  or  three  a 
week  to  the  accumulation  of  such  legal  knowledge 
as  was  dispensed  at  this  institution.  He  made  no 
serious  study  of  the  law,  because  serious  study  of 
any  subject  whatsoever,  save  his  own  aggrandize 
ment,  was  foreign  to  the  mind  of  Hicks.  He 
bought  notes  of  lectures  from  Impecunious  digs, 
flattered  and  cultivated  the  professors  and  lecturers, 
delivered  semi-orations  when  called  upon  to  tell 
what  he  knew,  and  was  on  his  way  toward  his 
degree  recommendation. 

He  did  not  care  for  the  law,  but  he  felt  he  needed 
the  law  as  a  peg  on  which  to  hang  his  political  am 
bitions.  He  made  a  close  study  of  politics,  watch 
ing  Paxton's  every  movement — Paxton  was  a  master 
politician — and  had  it  vaguely  in  mind  to  go  some 
where,  after  he  had  saved  a  little  money,  open  a 
law-office  and  depend  on  his  skill  as  a  handshaker 
and  his  general  alertness  of  mind  and  lack  of 
scruples  to  advance  him  in  politics.  He  knew  most 
of  the  usual  political  tricks,  for  politics  was  his  pas 
sion,  and  he  assayed  the  various  artifices  employed 
by  the  men  who  seek  votes  for  their  values  as 

37 


38  THE    FAKERS 

vote  getters  rather  than  for  their  showing  of  prin 
ciple  and  principles. 

Hicks  had  learned  one  thing.  He  never  offended 
any  person  who  might,  possibly,  do  him  any  good, 
and  took  whatever  came  from  such  sources  with 
smiles  and  thanks;  and  he  never  failed  to  impress  on 
those  whom  he  considered  on  terms  of  equality  with 
himself  his  own  advanced  ideas  of  his  personal  im 
portance  and  ability.  His  affability  and  urbanity 
were  famous  in  clerical  circles  at  the  Capitol;  his 
polite  attention  to  his  betters  made  him  many 
friends,  and  his  complaisance  and  readiness  to  do 
what  was  required  of  him  led  Paxton  to  use  him, 
more  or  less,  in  semi-important  affairs.  Madden, 
of  course,  was  the  real  operator  for  Paxton,  the 
man  who  stood  with  broad  shoulders  always  ready 
for  any  shifted  responsibility,  who  ran  such  risks 
as  there  were,  and  who  was  as  loyal  as  he  was 
pliable. 

Paxton's  attitude  toward  politics  and  public  ser 
vices  was  that  it  is  a  game,  with  the  people  as 
pawns.  This,  also,  was  the  attitude  of  the  men 
associated  with  Paxton  in  the  leadership  of  the 
Senate  and  the  direction  of  the  House.  That  was 
the  atmosphere  in  which  Hicks  worked,  and  the 
atmosphere  he  absorbed.  Paxton,  himself,  was  a 
wise  and  likable  person,  who  never  went  farther  in 
his  philosophy  of  politics  than  to  assert  the  theory 
that  the  end  justifies  the  means,  and  that  power  must 
be  retained  by  the  organization  at  all  hazards.  He 
was  willing  to  do  for  the  people  whatever  would 
help  the  organization  in  the  doing,  and  every  act  of 
his  and  every  act  of  his  controlling  associates  in 
the  Congress  was  predicated  on  the  political  effect 
that  act  would  have  on  the  personal  and  political 
fortunes  of  himself  and  his  friends. 

Long  years  of  experience  with  the  selfish  motives 


THE    FAKERS  39 

and  desires  and  practises  of  the  men  in  politics  and 
long  years  of  observing  the  ease  with  which  these 
selfish  and  self-seeking  men  deluded  the  people  had 
given  him  a  sort  of  humorous  contempt  for  the 
people  as  a  whole,  especially  as  to  their  politics  and 
the  practise  of  it.  He  had  accumulated  a  fortune 
through  politics,  and  he  had  assumed  a  philosophical 
view  of  the  game,  as  he  called  it,  and  took  nothing 
seriously  that  did  not  threaten  his  own  continuance 
as  a  leader  of  those  who  played  the  game  with  him. 
He  was  under  no  delusions  as  to  his  colleagues. 
He  knew  just  how  shallow  their  pretenses  were, 
how  much  of  lip-service  there  was  in  their  resound 
ing  promises  on  the  stump  and  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate,  how  bogus  it  all  was.  So  he  continued  at 
it  for  the  fun  he  had,  and  for  the  power  it  gave 
him,  and  while  he  was  as  bogus  as  the  rest  of  them, 
so  far  as  regard  for  the  general  good  was  con 
cerned,  he  had  the  redeeming  quality  of  knowing, 
himself,  exactly  how  bogus  he  was,  and  not  assum 
ing  virtue.  He  had  a  sense  of  perspective,  a  sense 
of  humor,  and  a  full  working  knowledge  of  all  the 
weaknesses,  follies,  ill-considered  sentiment  and  lack 
of  knowledge  among  the  populace. 

"Undoubtedly,"  he  said  to  Hicks  one  day,  "un 
doubtedly,  Tommie,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  right  when 
he  said  you  cannot  fool  all  the  people  all  the  time, 
but  the  limit  hasn't  been  reached  yet.  A  large 
number  of  men  in  the  politics  of  this  country  have 
been  at  that  business  of  fooling  the  people  for  a 
great  many  years  and  haven't  been  caught  yet.  In 
the  long,  the  ultimate  run,  the  contention  may  be 
right,  but  no  one  of  much  consequence  as  a  fooler 
has  been  stopped  thus  far,  to  my  knowledge." 

Hicks  pondered  this  and  similar  sentiments  from 
the  cynical  and  contemptuous  Paxton.  He  watched 
the  operations  of  the  organization  leaders  in  the 


40  THE    FAKERS 

Senate  and  saw  them  doing  things,  day  after  day, 
that  were  planned  carefully,  and  so  executed,  for 
the  effect  they  would  have  on  the  political,  and 
other,  fortunes  of  the  party  and  without  regard 
to  any  popular  merit,  except  such  as  might  in 
cidentally  accrue.  He  accepted  this  as  the  proper 
theory  of  politics,  and  the  wise  theory,  and  he  shaped 
his  own  plans  and  actions  thereby.  He  intended  to 
be  a  politician,  to  enter  politics,  and  he  had  no  other 
idea  of  entering  politics  than  the  steadfast  idea  of 
getting  everything  possible  for  Hicks  by  whatever 
means  might  present  themselves.  He  formed  the 
Hicks  party,  with  himself  as  sole  member,  solely 
to  profit  thereby,  and  resolved  to  operate  along 
those  lines. 

He  was  encouraged  in  his  attitude  by  his  occa 
sional  visits  to  Salestown,  where  the  village  people 
looked  on  him  as  some  sort  of  an  extraordinary 
person  who  was  shaping  the  destinies  of  the  Nation 
in  conjunction  with  the  famous  Senator  Paxton. 
Hicks  tried  out  some  tentative  boasts  and  asser 
tions  of  his  importance  on  his  old  friends  and  was 
amazed  to  see  how  unquestioningly  they  took  as 
true  everything  he  claimed.  Once,  he  made  a  speech 
at  an  Old  Home  Day  dinner.  He  began  rather 
modestly,  for  him,  his  recital  of  his  activities  at 
the  Capital,  but,  on  observing  the  pleased  acceptance 
of  his  assertions  by  his  auditors,  threw  off  all  re 
straint  and  proclaimed  himself  as  a  most  potent 
power  behind  the  throne. 

"It  is  my  good  fortune,"  he  spouted,  "to  be  asso 
ciated  with  these  great  men  at  Washington  who  are 
directing  the  affairs  of  this  Nation,  to  act  with 
them,  to  consult  with  them  and  to  be  consulted  by 
them,  and  I  want  to  say  to  you,  friends  of  my  boy 
hood  days,  that  no  one  knows  better  than  I  the 
unselfishness,  the  clear-sighted  patriotism,  the  high 


THE    FAKERS  41 

nobility  of  purpose  and  the  unfaltering  determina 
tion  to  conserve  the  welfare  of  the  people  of  these 
statesmen  with  whom  I  labor." 

There  was  loud  applause  from  everybody  except 
Colonel  Seth  Howard. 

"Tommie,"  said  that  unbeliever,  after  the  dinner, 
"I  thought  the  Constitution  provides  for  no  more 
than  two  Senators  from  a  State." 

"Why,  so  it  does,  Colonel,"  replied  Hicks. 

"That's  the  way  I  read  it,"  continued  the  Colonel, 
"but  I  take  it  from  your  remarks  our  State  has 
three." 

"Why,  no,  Colonel  only  two." 

"I'm  glad  to  be  reassured  on  that  point,  for  I 
gathered  from  what  you  said  that  you  are  acting 
as  a  Senator  for  us,  also." 

Tommie  laughed.  "Oh,  Colonel,"  he  said,  "I 
am  afraid  you  didn't  listen  closely  to  what  I  said." 

"That's  the  trouble,"  snarled  the  Colonel,  "I 
was  about  the  only  one  who  did  listen  closely,"  and 
he  stumped  away. 

Tommie  saw  to  it  that  the  Beacon  had  a  report 
of  that  speech,  and  when  the  paper  came  in,  put  a 
clipping  of  it  among  the  other  clippings  he  placed 
on  Senator  Paxton's  desk. 

Paxton's  eyes  twinkled  when  he  summoned  Hicks 
to  his  room. 

"Tommie,"  he  said,  holding  the  clipping  from  the 
Beacon  in  his  hand,  "I  see  that  you  have  begun  to 
inculcate  the  true  faith  in  the  minds  of  the  people." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  Hicks. 

"Why,  I  have  just  been  reading  this  report  of 
the  speech  you  made  up  at  Salestown.  I  couldn't 
have  done  better  myself  in  portraying  the  high  and 
patriotic  aims  of  such  workers  in  the  vineyard  of 
the  common  people  as  are  the  instruments  here  at 


42  THE    FAKERS 

this  Capital  for  ameliorating  their  woes.  I  con 
gratulate  you." 

Tommie  almost  blushed.  "Thank  you,  Senator," 
he  replied.  "I  am  always  glad  to  meet  with  your 
approval." 

Paxton  laughed.  "You  are  an  apt  student, 
Hicks,"  he  said,  "an  apt  student.  I  think  I  can 
make  something  out  of  you.  Bring  me  in  the  mail." 

Madden  read  the  clipping,  also.  "Say,"  he  said 
to  Tommie,  after  he  had  finished  Hicks's  glowing 
account  of  his  own  performance,  "you  are  wasting 
your  time  around  here." 

"What  do'  you  mean?"  asked  Tommie,  for 
Madden  was  a  powerful  factor  in  that  office. 

"I  mean  you're  too  good  to  be  working  as  a 
stenographer  to  a  Senator — any  Senator — or  any 
body  else.  A  young  man  wTho  can  get  away  with 
that  sort  of  guff  as  well  as  you  can  ought  to  be 
out  among  the  dear  people.  You  are  not  deluding 
anybody  here,  you  know,  but  it  is  different  outside." 

"I  don't  understand  you,"  Hicks  replied,  stiffly. 

"Oh,  all  right,"  continued  Madden,  "but  I  un 
derstand  you.  Now  don't  attitudinize  to  me.  I 
tell  you  there  is  a  future  for  you  in  politics  if  you 
get  the  right  field  for  yourself." 

Madden  stopped,  lighted  a  cigar,  and  looked  out 
of  the  window. 

"I  have  been  here  for  twenty  years,"  he  said,  as 
if  talking  mostly  to  himself,  "and  fifteen  of  those 
years  I  have  served  with  the  Senator.  I've  seen 
them  blow  in,  blow  up  and  blow  out  by  the  hun 
dreds.  If  there  is  any  kind  of  a  bunk  artist,  faker, 
charlatan,  demagogue,  or  other  professional  friend 
of  the  people  I  haven't  run  across  in  my  time  it 
is  some  new  sort  just  invented.  I  tell  you,  Hicks, 
you've  got  the  earmarks  and  all  the  tendencies  and 
all  the  traits  for  a  successful  career  as  a  noble  and 


THE    FAKERS  43. 

self-sacrificing  citizen  who  is  actuated  by  the  sole 
desire  to  aid  the  common  people.  You  could  bring 
yourself  to  love  them.  I  know  it." 

"But "  began  Hicks. 

"Oh,  but  nothing!"  interrupted  Madden.  "There 
are  no  buts  about  it.  If  there  ever  was  a  man 
born  to  handshake  and  talk  his  way  to  a  good  place 
on  the  payroll  that  man  is  yourself,  Hicks,  and  I 
don't  say  this  to  your  disparagement,  for  I  admire 
your  abilities.  You  are  a  born  friend  of  the  people. 
It  is  congenital  with  you.  You  can't  escape  it.  It 
is  your  manifest  destiny.  Moreover,  you  are 
rapidly  acquiring  all  the  knowledge  and  details  of 
that  pious  profession,  and  it's  a  shame  for  you  to 
stay  here  pounding  the  typewriter  when  you  might 
be  out  uplifting  the  dear,  common  people  from  the 
Slough  of  Despond,  to  your  own  subsequent  advan 
tage,  both  politically  and  financially." 

"I  think  you  misjudge  me,  Mr.  Madden,"  Hicks 
began  again,  "I  certainly  do  not  feel  that  my  prin 
ciples  should  be  weighed  in  any  such  sordid  scale 
as  that " 

"Misjudge  you!"  broke  in  Madden.  "That  line 
of  talk  you  have  just  begun  stamps  my  judgment  as 
infallible.  Let  me  have  that  file  of  letters  about 
the  Redding  case." 

Hicks  brought  the  Redding  file.  He  thought  a 
good  deal  that  day  of  what  the  Senator  and  Madden 
had  said.  In  his  opinion  their  ideas  on  his  abilities 
and  tendencies,  to  say  nothing  of  his  ambitions,  were 
couched  in  terms  that  might  have  been  more  deli 
cately  put,  but,  on  the  whole,  he  had  not  much  com 
plaint,  for  if  two  such  experts  as  Paxton  and  Mad 
den  were  beginning  to  consider  him  adroit  enough 
to  make  his  way  with  the  populace  he  felt  he  might 
be  progressing. 

And,  when  the  correspondents  came  in  that  after- 


44  THE    FAKERS 

noon  to  see  if  there  was  any  news  for  home  con 
sumption,  Tommie  handed  each  of  them  a  type 
written  excerpt  from  the  Beacon's  account  of  his 
speech.  He  had  early  learned  that  political  suc 
cess  depends,  to  a  large  extent,  on  keeping  on  friendly 
terms  with  the  sources  of  publicity.  The  reporters 
all  made  paragraphs  about  the  speech,  which  went 
with  the  day's  news  grist,  and  some  of  these 
were  printed,  to  the  great  delight  of  Hicks  and  to 
the  great  amusement  of  Senator  Paxton  and 
Madden. 


CHAPTER  VI 

HICKS  remained  with  Mrs.  Lake*  but  he 
had  expanded  a  bit.  He  had  taken  a 
larger  room,  on  the  second  floor,  and 
had  fitted  this  up  as  he  thought  a  room 
should  look.  He  had  a  banjo  on  the 
wall,  and  he  couldn't  play  a  note  on  it.  He  had 
a  guitar  standing  in  a  corner,  and  so  far  as  he  was 
concerned,  it  might  as  well  have  been  in  Senegambia 
for  all  the  music  he  could  make  on  it.  He  had 
Indian  clubs  over  the  mantel,  and  couldn't  swing 
them  to  save  his  life.  A  pair  of  foils  hung  under 
a  picture  of  "No  Cross;  No  Crown"  that  went 
with  the  room,  and  Tommie  didn't  know  which  end 
he  would  grasp  if  he  had  to  use  one.  He  had 
picked  up  a  snow-shoe,  and  it  was  displayed  con 
spicuously  near  the  door,  and  he  had  no  idea  whether 
snow-shoers  used  one  or  two  shoes  in  their  progress. 
A  pair  of  "Harvard"  pennants  had  the  place  of 
honor  opposite  the  entrance.  Hicks  always-  con 
sidered  himself  a  sort  of  a  Harvard  man,  for  he 
would  have  been  one  if  his  father  had  not  died, 
and  he  spoke  of  "dear  old  Harvard"  whenever  he 
was  sure  no  one  was  present  who  had  been  to  Cam 
bridge.  Once,  while  looking  in  the  window  of  a 
pawnbroker,  he  had  been  sorely  tempted  to  go  in 
and  buy  a  Greek-letter  fraternity  pin  displayed 
there,  but  he  refrained.  He  knew  he  might,  one 
day,  run  across  a  real  member  of  the  fraternity 

45 


46  THE    FAKERS 

entitled  to  wear  that  pin,  and  he  felt  he  wasn't  quite 
up  to  negotiating  a  grip  and  password  and  all  that. 

One  day,  while  browsing  in  a  second-hand  store, 
he  came  across  a  framed  photograph  of  President 
McKinley,  which  was  signed  "Yours  truly,  William 
McKinley,  July  16,  1897."  It  was  one  of  the 
hundreds  of  such  photographs  signed  by  every  Presi 
dent,  and  it  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  junk 
man.  Hicks  bought  it,  had  it  reframed  and  hung 
it  in  his  room.  He  spoke  of  the  picture  frequently 
and  told  how  President  McKinley  gave  it  to  him 
when  he  visited  him  at  the  White  House.  "An  old 
friend  of  mine  from  boyhood  up,"  he  would  say, 
as  if  he  were  on  the  closest  terms  of  intimacy  with 
the  President.  From  time  to  time  he  added  other 
photographs  to  his  collection,  but  put  up  none  but 
pictures  of  prominent  men  and,  as  soon  as  the  pic 
ture  was  hung,  the  pictured  one  became  the  long 
time  friend  of  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks. 

He  was  popular  in  the  boarding-house.  He  was 
good-looking,  and  lively.  He  had  an  emphatic  way 
of  speaking,  using  many  gestures  to  make  his  point, 
which  in  almost  every  instance  concerned  himself, 
and  he  never  hesitated  to  exaggerate  to  make  him 
self  heroic.  He  was  skilful  at  this,  and  usually 
managed  to  have  an  element  of  truth  in  what  he 
said  in  case  any  one  disputed  him  too  harshly.  He 
was  an  adroit  flatterer  and  paid  particular  attention 
to  the  ladies,  talking  to  them  and  fussing  over 
them,  and  they,  to  the  last  one,  pronounced  him  a 
most  charming  young  man  and  sang  his  praises 
wherever  they  went.  He  would  let  an  old  lady 
bore  him  for  an  hour  with  her  quavering  story 
of  her  troubles  and  pains  and  aches,  if  he  thought 
she  would  say  a  good  word  about  him  some  time. 
And  they  all  did.  When  he  was  talking,  and  saw 
an  expression  on  the  face  of  one  of  his  listeners 


THE    FAKERS  47 

that  betokened  doubt,  or  even  incredulity,  he  im 
mediately  shaped  his  conversation  to  convince  that 
doubter,  and  directed  the  force  of  his  argument  or 
narrative  to  him. 

As  in  all  boarding-houses  the  boarders  gathered 
around  the  piano  at  night  and  sang  all  sorts  of 
songs,  from  hymns  to  coon  songs.  Hicks  had  a 
voice  with  two  or  three  good  notes  in  it,  but  he 
could  not  carry  a  tune,  nor  sing  anything  alone. 
He  knew  just  when  these  notes  would  carry,  and 
came  out  strongest  and  loudest,  and  he  used  them 
every  time  he  had  a  chance.  He  never  knew  the 
words  of  a  song,  but  faked  them,  bumbling  along, 
until  he  could  throw  in  one  of  his  good  notes. 
When  he  was  asked  to  sing  a  solo  he  laughed  and 
protested  he  couldn't  think  of  it.  Modesty  forbade. 

The  custom  of  dressing  for  dinner  on  Friday 
nights  was  scrupulously  observed,  and  Tommie,  dis 
carding  his  ready-to-wear  dinner  jacket,  had  secured 
a  full-dress  regalia  and  wore  it  with  much  effective 
ness.  He  was  tall,  and  of  good  figure,  and  at 
tracted  attention  at  such  functions,  aside  from  the 
regular  Friday  night  affair,  as  he  attended.  These 
were  not  many,  for  Flicks  did  not  seek  much  after 
society.  He  was  busy  learning  politics  and  with 
his  law  and  his  work  for  Paxton.  He  had  been  to 
a  White  House  reception  or  two,  and  went  occasion 
ally  to  the  theater,  taking,  in  regular  succession,  the 
various  unattached  ladies  who  lived  with  Mrs.  Lake. 

One  Tuesday  night,  after  all  the  regular  guests 
were  seated  in  the  dining-room,  and  Hicks  had  be 
gun  to  explain,  learnedly,  to  his  table  companions, 
what  was  the  exact  political  significance  of  a  meas 
ure  pending  in  the  Senate,  Mrs.  Mamie,  a  business 
woman  who  was  one  of  the  regular  boarders,  in 
terrupted  him  with  a  long  drawn:  "Oh — h — h." 
Tommie  looked  at  her.  She  was  staring  with 


48  THE    FAKERS 

widened  eyes  at  a  man  and  a  woman  who  stood 
in  the  doorway.  Tommie  turned,  and  stared,  also, 
as  did  everybody  in  the  room.  The  soup  was  neg 
lected. 

The  woman  entered,  followed  by  the  man.  They 
walked  down  the  center  of  the  room,  looking  at 
nobody,  and,  apparently,  unconscious  of  the  presence 
of  any  persons  there  save  themselves. 

"Gee!"  said  Hicks,  half  aloud,  "a  corker." 

The  woman  was  tall  and  dark.  She  wore,  with 
much  effectiveness,  a  black,  spangled  gown,  cut  with 
a  low  "V"  both  back  and  front.  The  train  was 
long,  the  gown  obviously  a  late  Paris  creation,  and 
the  spangles,  which  shimmered  softly  in  the  shaded 
light  of  the  dining-room,  were  so  closely  set  to 
gether  that  they  gave  out  a  little  soothing,  rustling 
sound  as  she  moved.  Her  arms  were  bare  and 
white  and  round.  Her  gown  was  molded  so  closely 
to  her  figure  that  every  curve  was  accentuated  and 
she  was  sinuous  and  graceful,  undulating  her  hips 
slightly,  carrying  herself  with  exceeding  grace  and 
advancing  with  a  glide  rather  than  a  walk.  Her 
neck  and  shoulders  were  creamy  white,  her  black 
eyes  flashed  brilliantly,  and  she  exhaled  a  slight 
perfume  that  seemed  to  be  the  combined  odors  of 
many  flowers.  Her  purplish-black  hair  was  done 
into  an  elaborate  coiffure,  which  held  a  rhinestone 
ornament  that  glistened  and  sparkled.  She  wore 
no  color  of  any  kind,  save  one  red  rose  at  her  waist, 
a  little  on  her  cheeks,  and  plenty  on  her  lips,  which 
were  vividly  crimson  and  contrasted  sharply  with 
the  healthy  pallor  of  her  cheeks. 

"Jee-ru-salem!"  whispered  Hicks  to  Mrs.  Mar- 
nie,  "that's  the  most  stunning  woman  I  ever  saw." 

"Sh-h-h!"  Mrs.  Marnie  whispered  back.  "Don't 
talk.  Look." 

The  man  was  big  and  blonde.     He  wore  even- 


THE    FAKERS  49 

ing  clothes,  correct  to  the  smallest  detail.  When 
they  reached  their  table,  which,  evidently,  Mrs. 
Lake  had  allotted  to  them  previously,  he  pulled  back 
the  chair  for  her  with  elaborate  courtesy,  bowed  to 
her  after  she  was  seated  and  helped  her  arrange 
her  draperies. 

"Merci!"  she  said  to  him,  prettily,  looking  up 
and  smiling. 

"Lucky  dog,"  said  Tommie  to  himself. 

The  man  bowed  to  Mrs.  Lake,  made  another 
bow  that  included  the  rest  of  the  room,  sat  down 
and  began  a  conversation  with  the  woman  in  French. 
He  talked  in  a  low  voice,  but  all  those  in  the  room 
heard  him,  for  no  other  person  said  a  word,  and 
all  were  staring.  The  woman  replied  vivaciously 
in  the  same  language,  using  her  hands  in  pretty 
gestures  and  shrugging  her  bare  shoulders  expres 
sively  and  frequently.  Apparently,  the  man's  con 
versation  was  interesting,  for  she  punctuated  what 
he  said  with  frequent  tinkling  laughs,  and  often 
turned  to  him  in  smiling  enjoyment  of  what  he  was 
saying. 

"They're  just  come  back  from  abroad,"  Mrs. 
Marnie  whispered  to  Hicks,  for  Mrs.  Marnie  went 
to  Paris  frequently  in  the  course  of  her  business 
and  knew  French  herself.  "They  are  talking  about 
some  of  the  places  they  have  been  to  and  the  big 
people  they  have  visited.  He  has  been  recalling  a 
time  when  they  were  at  a  villa  at  Deauville  staying 
with  some  French  fashionables  and  they've  said 
some  things  about  being  in  Russia,  too." 

"Not  Americans,  then?"   asked  Tommie. 

"Oh,  yes,  I  guess  they  are,"  Mrs.  Marnie  re 
plied,  "but  they  have  been  abroad  for  a  long  time." 

The  man  and  the  woman  paid  no  attention  to 
the  others  in  the  room,  although  it  was  apparent 
that  the  woman  was  acting  a  little  to  make  an 


50  THE    FAKERS 

impression,  and  she  was  successful.  Some  of  Mrs. 
Lake's  dinner  was  uneaten  that  night.  The  wait 
resses  came  and  went,  removing  half-consumed  food, 
for  the  other  women  in  the  room  were  making  de 
tailed  analyses  of  this  woman  with  their  eyes,  and 
commenting  on  her  in  low  tones,  and  were  too  busy 
at  that  pleasing  occupation  to  eat  much. 

"Looks  like  a  regular  Frenchwoman  to  me,"  said 
Tommie. 

"You  never  can  tell,"  the  wise  Mrs.  Marnie  re 
plied,  "but  that's  a  French  rig  she  has  on.  You  may 
be  sure  of  that." 

After  they  had  finished  their  meal  the  man  rose, 
helped  the  woman  with  her  chair,  waited  deferen 
tially  until  she  had  preceded  him  and,  bowing 
again  to  those  in  the  room,  followed  her  as  she 
swept  out,  her  spangles  rustling  in  cadence  to  her 
graceful  movements. 

As  soon  as  they  had  passed  through  the  door  the 
room  buzzed  with  comment.  "Who  are  they?" 
chorused  the  boarders  at  Mrs.  Lake. 

"Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hugo  de  Mountfort  Lester," 
Mrs.  Lake  replied.  "They  are  here  for  a  short 
stay,  and  are  foreigners,  I  think,  for  they  talk 
mostly  in  French." 

The  boarders  gathered  in  the  big  hall,  around  the 
fireplace,  and  discussed  the  Lesters.  The  women 
took  acute  stock  of  her  costume,  her  figure,  her 
hair,  her  general  appearance,  her  reddened  lips,  her 
gestures  and  her  shrugs;  and  the  men  contented 
themselves  with  expressions  of  the  broad  general 
view  that  Mrs.  Lester  "certainly  is  a  peach."  They 
did  not  come  down  again  and  at  ten  o'clock  Hicks 
went  up  to  his  room.  He  repeated  the  name  over 
many  times:  "Hugo  de  Mountfort  Lester." 

"By  George!"  he  said,  as  he  turned  out  his  light, 


THE    FAKERS  51 

"I'd  like  to  know  that  woman.  She's  a  corker — a 
regular  stunner.  I  wonder  who  they  are." 

Hicks  dallied  over  his  breakfast,  hoping  the  Les- 
ters  would  come  down,  but  they  did  not.  Mrs. 
Lake  explained,  after  he  had  made  a  casual  in 
quiry  about  the  new  guests,  that  they  had  arranged 
to  take  their  breakfast  in  their  room,  saying  they 
had  lived  in  France  so  long  that  they  preferred 
the  Continental  meal  of  coffee  and  rolls.  They  were 
discussed  again  at  the  tables.  The  women  generally 
concluded  Mrs.  Lester  was  French,  although  one 
or  two  thought  she  must  be  a  Russian,  as  she  had 
used  a  few  phrases  of  that  language,  or  of  what 
they  took  to  be  that  language,  the  night  before. 
The  man,  undeniably,  was  an  Englishman.  All 
were  agreed  upon  that. 

Tommie  usually  took  his  luncheon  at  the  Capitol, 
but  he  made  an  excuse  to  Madden  about  some  papers 
left  in  his  room,  and  came  to  the  boarding-house  in 
the  hope  of  having  another  look  at  Mrs.  Lester. 
As  he  turned  in  at  the  house  Mrs.  Lester  came  out 
on  the  porch.  She  was  dressed  in  a  blue,  tailored 
suit,  adequately  planned  to  display  the  numerous 
perfections  of  her  figure  to  the  best  possible  ad 
vantage.  She  wore  a  chic  little  French  hat  and 
she  made  altogether  the  most  entrancing  bit  of 
fashionable  femininity  Hicks  had  ever  seen.  She 
had  a  big  squat,  ugly  bulldog  on  a  leash,  tugging 
along  ahead  of  her,  and  she  was  saying  pretty,  en 
dearing  things  to  him  in  French,  calling  him  her 
baby  and  her  darling,  and  otherwise  lavishing  affec 
tion  on  him  that  was  not  appreciated,  for  the  dog 
tried  valiantly  to  get  away  from  his  mistress  to 
proceed  on  adventures  of  his  own  up  the  street. 

Mrs.  Lester's  eyes  sparkled,  her  cheeks  had  just 
a  touch  of  red  in  or  on  them,  her  manner  was 
vivacious,  and  her  one-sided  conversation  with  the 


£2  THE    FAKERS 

bull-dog  animated.  Tommie  racked  his  brain  for 
something  in  French  to  say  to  her.  All  he  could 
think  of  was  a  la  carte,  and  he  knew  that  wouldn't 
do.  Mrs.  Lester,  apparently,  did  not  look  at  him. 
She  leaned  gracefully  back  against  the  tugging  of 
the  dog  on  the  leash,  a  fascinating  picture. 

Just  as  she  started  down  the  short  flight  of  steps 
leading  from  the  porch  to  the  ground  Tommie  had 
a  thought. 

"Bong  joor,"  he  said,  lifting  his  hat. 

She  turned  her  head  and  smiled  a  bright  little 
smile.  "Good  morning,"  in  musical  English,  she 
saluted,  cheerily,  and  ran  along  with  the  dog. 
Tommie  was  quite  pleased  with  himself.  He  didn't 
know  exactly  what  his  "bong  joor"  meant,  but  he 
thought  it  had  answered  the  purpose.  That  night 
he  sought  an  opportunity  to  talk  to  the  Lesters, 
but  they  went  immediately  to  their  room  after  din 
ner,  and  next  day  they  left.  Mrs.  Lake  said  they 
had  been  called  out  of  town.  The  picture  of  Mrs. 
Lester  and  her  dog  remained  long  with  Tommie. 
He  often  thought  about  her  and  wondered  if  he 
ever  would  see  her  again.  So  far  as  the  boarding- 
house  was  concerned,  the  Lesters  vanished  com 
pletely.  They  did  not  tell  the  landlady  where  they 
were  going,  and,  presently,  everybody  forgot  them 
— everybody  but  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  Spanish  war  came,  with  its  exciting 
days,  and  Hicks  was  kept  at  the  Capitol 
with    Senator    Paxton,    almost    continu 
ously.     He  thought  of  enlisting  in  order 
to  gain  a  war  record  to  aid  him  in  his 
future   political    adventures,    but   was    deterred   by 
stories   of   long   waits    for   ambitious    and   embryo 
heroes  at  camps  where  the  principal  fighting  seemed 
to  be  with  typhoid  fever  and  the  assurances  of  Sen 
ator  Paxton  that  the  war  wouldn't  last  long  enough 
to  enable  anybody  to  get  any  glory  out  of  it.      Be 
sides,  Tommie  was  intrinsically  no  hero.      His  con 
ception  of  the  situation  was   that  he   could  be  of 
greater   service   to    his   country — and   himself — by 
confining  his  fighting  to  the  bloodless  arena  of  poli 
tics  rather  than  going  to  the  jungles  of  Cuba  for 
that  futile  purpose. 

Peace  was  concluded.  The  Cuban  and  the  Philip 
pine  problems  obtruded,  and  then  came  the  morn 
ing  when  Senator  Paxton  made  his  rescue  of  the 
child  of  the  avenue.  A  few  days  after  Hicks's 
presentation  of  the  episode  through  the  columns  of 
the  Evening  Dispatch,  Paxton  called  Madden  in. 
Madden  was  on  the  most  confidential  terms  with 
Paxton.  He  had  been  with  him  for  fifteen  years, 
and  had  come  to  be  the  Senator's  political  executive 
as  well  as  his  intimate  adviser.  Paxton  had  given 
him  every  test  for  loyalty,  and  Madden  never  had 
failed  to  prove  true  blue.  His  principal  interest 

53 


54  THE    FAKERS 

in  life  was  to  be  of  service  to  Paxton,  and  his  chief 
ambition  to  do,  as  Paxton  would  have  it  done,  each 
task  Paxton  put  on  him.  He  had  much  of  political 
shrewdness,  and  while  he  lacked  initiative,  once  in 
structed,  he  was  a  marvel  at  performance. 

"Bert,"  said  the  Senator,  "have  you  sounded  out 
young  Hicks  lately?" 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"Have  you  had  any  conversations  with  him  about 
his  future.  What  has  he  in  mind?" 

"I  think  he  intends  to  pick  out  some  place  in 
our  State,  or  another,  take  up  the  practise  of  law 
and  go  into  politics." 

"Has  he  selected  a  city?" 

"Not  yet,  so  far  as  I  know.  He  is  saving  his 
money,  and  plugging  at  the  law,  but  I  suppose  he 
wants  to  stay  here  for  a  while  yet." 

"Oh,  I  don't  want  to  get  rid  of  him.  He  amuses 
me,  and  he  interests  me,  and  he's  useful,  too.  It 
isn't  often  that  an  old,  track-sore,  tired  politician 
like  myself  finds  both  amusement  and  aid  in  an 
assistant — not  thinking  of  you,  Madden — not  at 
all.  I  like  him.'; 

"So  do  I,"  said  Madden.  "He's  a  constant  joy 
to  me.  He'll  glad-hand  and  talk  himself  into  some 
thing  good  one  of  these  days." 

"That's  my  idea.  I  see  possibilities  in  him. 
He's  fresh,  of  course,  and  bumptious  and  a  bit 
blatant,  but,  potentially,  he's  the  ideal  friend-of- 
the-people  politician.  He's  smart,  and  adaptable — 
I  might  say  ductile — and  I  never  knew  a  young  man 
who  so  continuously  kept  his  eye  on  the  main  chance. 
Have  you  ever  observed  any  signs  of  scruple  about 
him?" 

"Never.  What  he  wants  is  to  get  along,  and 
he'll  get  along,  too,  if  he  has  half  a  show.  He's 
the  brightest  kid  we've  had  in  this  place  since  I've 


THE    FAKERS  55 

been  here,  barring  his  rind,  and  his  constant  ex 
ploitation  of  himself,  but  he  does  his  work  well, 
and,  say,  the  climbing  mother  of  a  fashionable 
debutante  is  a  mere  amateur  compared  to  Hicks 
when  it  comes  to  getting  publicity.  He  took  part 
in  a  moot  court  the  other  night  and  you'd  think, 
to  see  the  accounts  of  it,  it  was  the  President  him 
self,  instead  of  Hicks,  who  was  there." 

"I  have  observed  that  phase  of  his  activities,  and 
that  helps  to  make  him  the  best  possible  person  to 
use  in  an  experiment  I  have  in  mind." 

"What  sort  of  an  experiment?"  asked  Madden, 
wondering  what  whimsical  idea  his  chief  was 
harboring. 

"The  experiment  of  proving  that  a  man  of  his 
peculiar  abilities  can  make  a  great  success  in  politics 
by  following  a  certain  course  of  action  in  a  certain 
way.  It  has  been  proved  often  enough,  but  not 
scientifically,  Bert,  not  scientifically.  Hundreds  of 
men  have  done  what  I  have  in  mind  for  him  to 
do,  but  their  actions  and  the  results  therefrom  have 
been  sort  of  haphazard,  except  in  a  few  instances. 
They  just  happened  on  the  scheme  that  gave  them 
success.  What  I  desire  is  to  aid  a  deliberate  at 
tempt  at  proving  my  theory  that  the  greatest  popular 
success  in  politics  can  be  attained  by  entirely  super 
ficial  methods.  Do  you  follow  me?" 

"Not  exactly." 

"Well,  take  a  look  around  the  Senate.  Observe 
Jaxon,  who  is  nothing  but  a  noise,  but  a  noise  that 
is  always  noisy  when  the  dear  people  are  concerned. 
Look  at  Bogardus,  as  arrant  a  demagogue  as  ever 
came  to  this  Capitol,  and  he  is  returned  times  with 
out  number  because  he  is  continually  blatting  about 
what  he  is  doing  for  the  general  uplift.  Watch 
McPhyle  for  a  little.  Totally  without  ability  ex 
cept  for  stringing  words  together,  he  has  talked 


-56  THE    FAKERS 

himself  to  the  top  by  the  simple  expedient  of  howl 
ing  stridently  about  virtue  and  proclaiming  himself 
the  only  honest  man.  What  do  you  think  of  Somer 
set,  who  is  tied  up  with  a  dozen  corporations,  and 
who  gets  away  with  it  by  constantly  braying  his 
antagonism  to  all  trusts  not  specifically  on  his  list 
of  retainers,  and  Anstrutter,  who  secures  his  by 
his  reputation  of  rugged,  sterling  honesty,  and  his 
assumption  of  the  plain-as-an-old-shoe  pose,  when 
he  is  luxurious  as  a  sybarite  and  crooked  as  a  dog's 
hind  legs? 

"There  are  dozens,  scores,  hundreds  more  of  them 
— four-flushers,  trimmers,  hypocrites,  humbugs; 
playing  both  ends  against  the  middle;  posing  as 
religious  and  pious,  and,  in  reality,  foul  and  vicious; 
howling  for  restriction  of  the  liquor  traffic  because 
that  is  endorsed  by  the  good  people  at  home,  and 
doing  their  best  to  restrict  it  here,  and  elsewhere, 
by  drinking  all  they  can  buy  or  can  get  others  to 
buy  for  them;  espousing  every  measure  favored  by 
church  people,  and  obscene  in  their  daily  walk  and 
conversation;  grafters,  who  yammer  of  their  purity 
and  pester  to  death  for  money  some  of  us  who  are 
not  so  virtuous,  and  willing  to  sell  their  votes  or 
their  souls  for  it;  men  who  roar  from  every  stump 
of  their  labors  for  the  people  and  roar  behind  the 
closed  doors  of  every  committee-room,  and  their 
own  offices,  for  their  share  of  the  graft;  men  who 
are  so  cheap  they  can  be  bought  by  special  favors, 
by  loaning  them  a  few  filthy  dollars;  men  who 
haven't  an  honest  conviction  on  any  subject  and 
who  are  willing  to  resort  to  any  expedient  to  hold 
themselves  in  office — men — but,  pfaugh,  why  go  on? 
These  are  the  sort  of  people  the  people — the  people 
— send  to  Washington  to  represent  them." 

"What  have  these  to  do  with  Hicks?"  asked 
Madden,  as  the  Senator  paused. 


THE    FAKERS  57 

"This:  There  are  the  processes  by  which  these 
men  retain  themselves  in  politics.  Most  of  them 
are  crude  workers.  They  all  had  about  the  same 
raw  materials  Hicks  has,  and  have  developed  them, 
each  along  his  own  lines.  Each  has  his  good  points 
as  a  political  faker,  and  each  has  his  weaknesses. 
Now,  here  is  what  I  have  in  mind:  Why  not, 
knowing  these  men  and  many  others  like  them  as  we 
do — why  not  make  a  scientific,  exact  compilation  of 
all  their  excellencies  as  fakers,  discarding  their  weak 
points,  and  then  combine  all  those  good  points  in 
the  practices  and  purposes  of  one  man?" 

"Do  you  mean  Hicks?" 

"Hicks  is  exactly  the  person  I  do  mean.  He  is 
the  biggest  potential  political  faker  I  ever  saw.  He 
has  it  in  him.  He  can  get  about  anything  he  wants 
if  he  will  play  the  game  as  I  shall  outline  it  to 
him.  I'm  old,  and  I'm  tired.  I  want  to  be  amused 
and  I'd  just  as  lief  amuse  myself  at  the  expense  of 
the  people  who  deserve  nothing  but  what  they  allow 
themselves  to  get  as  any  other  way.  What  do  you 
think?" 

"I  am  afraid  I  don't  understand,  exactly." 

"Well,  let  me  make  it  specific:  Suppose  I  say 
to  Hicks  that  I  will  finance  him  to  a  reasonable 
extent  and  send  him  out  to  some  good  town,  to  live 
there,  and  practise  law.  Suppose  I  get  some  fun 
out  of  it  by  coaching  him,  and  as  the  result  of  my 
coaching — and  yours,  Madden,  for  you  know  this 
game — and  his  natural  abilities,  we  make  a  foray 
into  politics,  Hicks  to  get  the  rewards,  and  Paxton 
to  have  the  fun.  Don't  you  think  we  could  put 
something  over?" 

"It  might  be  done,"  answered  the  conservative 
Madden. 

"Might?"  exclaimed  Paxton.  "Where's  your 
imagination,  Madden!  Might?  Why,  man,  it's 


J58  THE    FAKERS 

being  done  every  day  of  every  year  by  men  who  are 
working  by  impulse  instead  of  being  scientifically 
directed  and  managed.  Men  are  getting  to  Wash 
ington  who  are  mere  clumsy  amateurs  at  this  friend- 
of-the-people  game.  With  Hicks  properly  located 
and  properly  instructed  there  would  inevitably  re 
sult  a  triumph  of  political  fakery  that  would  amaze 
even  us,  accustomed  as  we  are  to  the  outcome  of 
such  propaganda.  I  tell  you,  Madden,  we  can 
erect,  direct,  own  and  operate  a  first-class  tribune 
of  the  pee-pul." 

"By  George!"  said  Madden,  "I  believe  we  could, 
and  have  a  heap  of  fun  out  of  it,  too.  But  what 
do  you  want  Hicks  to  do?" 

"Nothing — nothing  on  God's  green  earth  he 
wouldn't  do  himself,  with  this  difference:  What 
he  does  he  will  do  accurately;  those  he  does  he  will 
do  scientifically,  without  lost  motion  or  scattered 
effort,  and  in  full  accord  with  the  latest  standards. 
He  will  have  the  expert  instruction  of  William  H. 
Paxton,  who  knows  a  few  things  about  this  great, 
bogus  game,  and  how  it  is  played  and  is  pretty 
thoroughly  disgusted  with  the  game,  the  players  and 
the  played,  which,  as  I  have  remarked,  are  the 
people,  the  dear,  common  people;  commoner,  even, 
Madden,  than  you  imagine." 

"Oh,  I  don't  know  about  that,"  said  Madden. 
"I  am  pretty  well  aware  of  that  phase  of  it." 

"Well,  then,  why  hesitate  to  give  your  approval 
to  this  socio-politico-Hicksico  experiment?  Come 
on!  We'll  organize  a  corporation  and  I'll  be  the 
board  of  directors  and  take  my  dividends  in  amuse 
ment.  Hicks  can  be  the  promoter  and  reap  his 
reward  in  promotion  profits,  and  you  can  be  the 
advisory  committee  and  get  the  subsidiary  incre 
ment.  What  do  you  say?" 

"All    right!"      Madden    was    enthusiastic — for 


THE    FAKERS  59 

him.  "It  has  possibilities,  but,"  and  his  natural 
caution  obtruded,  "do  you  think  Hicks  will  stay 
put?" 

"Oh,  I  guess  so,  but,  even  if  he  doesn't,  that 
is  one  of  the  phases  of  the  game.  When  you 
gamble,  Madden,  you  must  take  a  chance.  I  think 
he  will,  for  he  knows  where  his  interests  lie  better 
than  any  young  person  of  my  acquaintance." 

"Have  you  talked  to  Hicks?" 

"Not  yet,  but  send  him  in  when  he  has  some 
leisure." 

Madden  went  to  the  outer  office.  Hicks  was 
filing  some  letters. 

"Tommie,"  he  said,  "the  Senator  would  like  to 
see  you." 

"Do  you  want  me,  Senator?"  asked  Hicks,  soon 
afterward. 

"Yes.     Sit  down/' 

Hicks  took  a  chair,  wondering  what  the  Senator 
had  in  his  mind.  He  hoped  he  was  to  get  an  in 
crease  in  salary.  He  was  fearful  he  was  to  be 
disciplined  for  the  rescue  incident. 

The  Senator  looked  at  his  assistant  secretary  for 
half  a  minute.  He  noted  his  long  hair,  brushed 
back  from  the  forehead;  the  flowing  tie;  the  gen 
eral  air  of  a  modified  political  make-up.  Then  he 
took  an  inventory  of  Hicks's  face.  He  saw  a 
broad,  low  forehead,  a  fair  nose,  a  clear  complexion. 
The  lips  were  large  and  full,  and  the  lower  one 
slightly  pendulous.  The  chin  was  just  a  chin,  with 
no  strong  characteristic.  Paxton  dwelt  longest  on 
the  eyes.  They  were  small  eyes,  set  close  together, 
hard  eyes  with  greenish  glints  in  them.  Hicks 
smiled.  He  had  a  pleasant  smile,  that  lighted  up 
his  face  and  made  him  appear  affable  and  good- 
natured.  But  there  was  no  smile  in  the  eyes. 
With  a  better  mouth  the  face  would  have  been  a 


60  THE    FAKERS 

strong  one,  but  with  those  eyes  and  that  mouth  it 
was  the  face  of  a  youth  willing  to  do  whatever 
was  necessary,  and  to  consider  necessary  whatever 
there  was  to  do. 

"Tommie,"  he  asked,  finally,  "what  are  your 
plans?" 

"Nothing  new,  Senator;  I  am  studying  law  nights, 
and  trying  to  fit  myself  for  practise." 

"Where?" 

"I  haven't  decided.  I  am  considering  several 
places." 

"Probably  you  have  an  idea  of  entering  politics, 
also?" 

"Why,  yes,  I  have  thought  of  that."  Hicks  won 
dered  what  the  Senator  was  leading  to,  for  he  knew 
Paxton  never  asked  such  questions  to  gratify  a 
casual  curiosity. 

"Have  you  looked  over  Rextown?" 

"Rextown?     Why,  Rextown  isn't  in  our  State?" 

"I  know,  but  it  may  be  that  opportunities  exist 
elsewhere  in  this  great  Republic  than  in  our  im 
perial  commonwealth?" 

"Possibly,"  Hicks  replied,  at  a  loss  to  under 
stand  the  drift  of  the  conversation. 

"Probably,"  continued  Paxton.  "In  fact,  abso 
lutely.  Now,  I  happen  to  know  some  things  about 
Rextown,  and  it  seems  to  me  an  ideal  place  for  a 
young  and  aspiring  lawyer,  and  an  embryo  states 
man  to  make  the  scene  of  his  operations." 

"Is  it?" 

"Yes;  it's  just  the  place  for  you,  particularly  if 
you  desire  to  go  into  politics,  as  you  say  you  do, 
and  as  I  think  you  should  do.  Let  me  suggest  that 
you  go  to  Rextown,  and  join  the  Democratic  party." 

Hicks  jumped  from  his  chair. 

"Join  the  Democratic  party!"  he  exclaimed. 
"Why,  Senator,  I  am  a  Republican,  my  father  was 


THE    FAKERS  61 

a  Republican  and  helped  organize  the  Republican 
party  and  you  are  a  Republican.  What  do  you 
mean?" 

"I  mean  exactly  what  I  say.  Go  to  Rextown  and 
join  the  Democratic  party." 

"But  I  am  a  Republican  and  so  are  you,"  pro 
tested  Hicks. 

"I  know;  I  know.  I  am  too  old  to  reform,  but 
you  are  not.  You  are  young  and  facing  the  future. 
I  am  elderly  and  principally  concerned  with  trying 
to  forget  the  past.  I  have  been  attracted  by  your 
brightness  of  mind  and  general  adaptability  to  your 
environment.  I  have  thought  a  good  deal  about 
you.  I  suggest  Rextown  entirely  in  the  capacity  of 
an  old  and,  mayhap,  astute  observer  who  takes  you 
up  on  a  mountain  and  shows  you  things  below  that 
you  may  obtain.  You  have  ambitions.  I  have 
nothing  better  to  do  at  the  moment  than  to  make 
a  few  suggestions  in  an  entirely  friendly  manner, 
that  may  help  you  to  realize  those  ambitions.  Do 
you  know  anything  at  all  about  Rextown?" 

"Not  much." 

"Well,  it  is  a  fine,  thriving  city  of  about  sixty 
thousand  people,  and  so  strongly  Republican  that 
no  Democrat  has  been  elected  to  anything  out  there 
since  the  War." 

"Then  what's  the  use  of  being  a  Democrat?" 

"I  expected  you  to  ask  that.  Rextown  gives  a 
Republican  majority  of  about  four  thousand,  and 
the  outlying  towns  in  Corliss  County  are  practically 
unanimous  for  the  Grand  Old  Party.  The  result 
is  that  every  young  man  who  goes  there,  and  all 
those  who  have  grown  up  there,  are  Republicans, 
either  from  conviction  or  for  the  sake  of  policy. 
This  is  especially  true  of  the  young  men,  and  the 
older  ones,  who  have  office  in  mind.  There's  no 
sense  in  being  a  Democrat  there,  looking  at  it  in 


62  THE    FAKERS 

the  light  of  getting  an  immediate  or  a  possible  some 
thing  out  of  politics  for  oneself,  for  a  Democrat 
hasn't  a  chance  to  land  on  the  payroll.  I  assume 
you  think  you  would  take  a  nomination  in  the  full 
ness  of  time." 

"Yes." 

"No  doubt  of  it;  not  a  doubt.  However,  there 
is  a  phase  of  that  situation  that  may  not  have  oc 
curred  to  you.  In  addition  to  yourself  there  will 
always  be  scores  of  other  Republicans  who  think  the 
same;  who  are,  in  their  own  minds  at  least,  en 
titled  to  office.  Now,  you  can  see  what  that  means. 
There  will  be  vast  competition  for  the  nominations, 
much  work  and  worry  and,  taking  previous  services 
and  claims  of  natives  and  older  men  than  you  into 
consideration,  it  is  likely  to  be  a  long  time  before 
you  can  make  enough  of  an  impression  to  get  a 
chance.  It  will  be  years  before  it  is  your  turn." 

Hicks  looked  incredulous.  "Why,"  he  said,  "I 
think  I  can— 

"I  know  you  think  you  can,  but  you  can't.  Party 
service  and  party  obligation  go  a  long  way  in 
determining  selection  for  the  prizes  of  politics. 
Also  consider  the  fierce  competition  from  these 
hordes  of  other  Republicans,  all  of  them  as  eager 
for  political  increment  as  you  will  be.  My  way  is 
surer  than  that." 

"But  you  are  a  Republican,"  protested  Hicks 
again. 

"I  know  I  am,  and  I  suppose  I  have  no  right  to 
be  advising  a  young  man  to  desert  my  party.  How 
ever,  I'd  like  to  see  the  experiment  made." 

"I'm  afraid  I  don't  understand  you  exactly,"  said 
the  amazed  Hicks. 

"It's  simple  enough.  Here  is  a  city  largely  Re 
publican  and  a  county  almost  overwhelmingly  so. 
There  are  hardly  any  Democrats.  Still  there  are 


THE    FAKERS  63 

enough  to  keep  up  a  semblance  of  an  organization, 
and  to  nominate  men  for  the  principal  offices.  These 
men  are  named  time  after  time  and  time  after  time 
go  down  to  defeat." 

"And  you  think  I  should  join  that  party?  What 
for?  There's  nothing  in  it." 

"That's  where  you  make  a  mistake.  There's 
everything  in  it.  Inasmuch  as  you  already  hold  all 
our  practical  ideas  about  politics,  I  am  showing  you 
the  way  to  get  results.  Be  a  Democrat,  I  tell  you. 
There  are  only  a  few  of  them.  They  will  welcome 
a  recruit,  especially  an  alert  young  chap  like  you. 
It  will  be  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world,  after  you 
get  some  acquaintance,  to  secure  any  of  those  worth 
less  nominations  you  may  choose,  to  become  a  local 
Democratic  leader,  to  be  prominent  in  the  party  here 
and  in  the  county." 

"But  what  good  will  it  do  me?" 

"None  for  a  time,  probably,  but,  my  son,  sooner 
or  later,  in  every  community  like  this,  there  comes 
a  turnover.  Always  there  is  a  shift.  The  people 
become  disgusted  with  the  party  in  power.  They  get 
sore  on  the  leaders.  They  rise,  blindly,  perhaps, 
and  unreasoningly,  but  effectively,  and  turn  out 
those  leaders  and  that  party.  That  is  where  you 
would  come  in." 

Hicks  was  leaning  eagerly  forward  in  his  chair. 

"Do  you  mean,"  he  asked,  "that  if  I  join  the 
Democrats  and  stick  it  out  I  can  win  quicker  that 
way  than  if  I  stand  by  the  Republican  party." 

"Exactly.  The  law  of  political  averages  proves 
it.  It  is  as  certain  as  sunrise.  All  you  have  to  do 
is  to  hang  on,  take  such  nominations  as  you  can 
get,  and  then,  when  the  auspicious  moment  arrives, 
you  can  point  to  yourself  as  the  patriotic  person 
who  has  made  all  these  sacrifices  in  the  past.  You 


64  THE    FAKERS 

can  demand  your  reward  when  there  is  a  reward  in 
sight,  and  you  can  land  top-side  up." 

"Do  you  think  so,  Senator,  do  you  really  think 
so?"  Hicks  was  excitedly  interested. 

"I  know  it.  It  is  politics.  It  is  history.  You 
can  do  it,  providing " 

"Providing  what?" 

"Providing  you  can  bring  yourself  to  abandon  the 
principles  of  the  Republican  party,  which  you  revere, 
the  party  your  father  helped  organize,  and  become 
a  Democrat." 

"I  think  that  could  be  arranged." 

"Certainly,"  Paxton  continued.  "Haven't  you 
often,  as  a  result  of  your  observations  here,  con 
sidered  the  step  of  joining  the  opposition  in  order 
to  relieve  the  country  of  this  saturnalia  of  profligate 
extravagance  and  criminal  disregard  of  the  funda 
mental  rights  of  the  people  displayed  by  the  pluto 
cratic  Republicans?  Haven't  you  about  made  up 
your  mind  that,  in  basic  principles  of  Government, 
the  Democrats  have  the  most  patriotic  and  the  most 
logical  foundation  for  their  political  beliefs  and  prac 
tices?  Haven't  you  always  considered  Thomas 
Jefferson  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  Americans?" 

"Now  that  you  refresh  my  memory  I  recall  that 
I  have,"  Hicks  answered,  without  a  flicker  of  a 
smile. 


H 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ICKS  thought  much  over  what  the  Sen 
ator  had  said,  and  every  hour  of 
thought  he  gave  to  the  proposition 
added  to  his  eagerness  to  make  a  trial 
of  the  Senator's  theory.  Backed  by 
Paxton,  as  he  assumed  he  would  he,  he  felt  he  could 
not  lose.  That  astute  statesman  had  no  idea  he  had 
sown  his  seed  in  barren  ground.  He  thought  it 
would  be  good  fun  to  play  this  game  with  Hicks,  and 
when  he  came  into  his  office  next  day  he  stopped 
by  the  side  of  Hicks  and  said: 

"Disciple  of  T.  Jefferson,  I  salute  you.  I  am 
quite  sure  you  have  arrived  at  the  very  wise  con 
clusion  that  a  man  is  entitled  to  change  his  political 
principles  when  he  is  convinced  of  the  greater  pa 
triotism,  the  greater  statesmanship,  the  greater  re 
gard  for  the  plain  people  shown  by  the  other  party. 
It  would  be  mere,  blind  partisanship,  which  is  the 
curse  of  this  country,  if  he  did  not  shift  his  alle 
giance  when  convinced  the  greatest  good  for  the 
greatest  number  will  ensue  from  such  a  change. 
Am  I  right?" 

"You  are  right,  Senator,"  Hicks  answered.  "I 
am  for  the  people,  and  I  am  a  Democrat." 

"Good!"  exclaimed  Paxton,  slapping  Hicks  on 
the  shoulder.  "Now  come  in  and  take  a  little 
dictation." 

Hicks  went  in,  with  his  note-book  and  pencils, 

65 


66  THE    FAKERS 

pulled  out  the  shelf  on  one  side  of  the  Senator's 
desk  and  waited. 

Paxton  lighted  a  cigar,  fussed  over  some  papers, 
and  leaned  back  and  looked  at  the  ceiling. 

"Politics,"  he  began,  presently,  "may  be  sepa 
rated  into  two  grand  divisions :  Practical  politics 
and  impractical  politics.  Practical  politics  is  the 
kind  that  wins.  Impractical  politics  is  all  other 
kinds.  Paragraph. 

"Politics  has  many  alibis.  It  is  rarely  practiced 
under  its  own  name  except  by  those  who  are  desig 
nated  as  the  unscrupulous  bosses  and  their  hench 
men  and  heelers.  All  others  who  engage  in  politics 
so  engage  because  an  unendurable  condition  of 
national  or  local  affairs  demands  their  prompt 
placing  on  the  payroll  in  order  that  these  abuses 
may  be  corrected.  Paragraph. 

"Next  to  getting  on  the  payroll,  the  important 
object  of  politics  is  power.  Power  is  important  be 
cause  if  you  have  power  you  can  get  the  money. 
At  any  rate,  you  can  put  others  in  the  way  of  get 
ting  the  money,  and  no  politics  is  a  success  unless 
somebody  gets  it.  Paragraph. 

"Politics  makes  strange  bedfellows.  All  com 
binations  and  associations  you,  personally,  make 
are  excusable  because  you  invariably  make  them 
for  the  good  of  the  people.  Paragraph. 

"Always  be  unselfish  in  politics.  For  example,  if 
called  to  choose  between  two  offices,  always  take 
the  office  to  which  you  can  be  elected,  even  if  it 
be  the  lesser  one,  for  any  salary  you  can  get  is  better 
than  any  salary,  however  great,  that  you  cannot  get. 
Paragraph." 

Paxton  stopped,  puffed  a  little  at  his  cigar,  and 
then  began  again: 

"The  greatest  asset  of  the  politician  is  the  people. 
Paragraph. 


THE    FAKERS  67 

"It  is  well  to  remember  that  while  the  people 
may  not  always  be  right  they  are  exceedingly  nu 
merous.  Paragraph. 

"Every  politician  should  observe  carefully  what 
the  people  think  they  demand  and  demand  that 
thing  instantly,  stridently  and  continuously.  As  the 
people  pay  attention  to  politics  for  a  few  weeks  only 
each  year,  and  the  politician  pays  attention  to  poli 
tics  all  the  time,  it  will  soon  fall  out  that  the  people 
will  come  to  think  the  reforms  they  demanded  and 
you  took  up  you  demanded  and  they  took  up. 
Paragraph. 

"Never  refer  to  the  people  as  the  people.  Al 
ways  call  them  the  plain  people.  The  great  bulk 
of  the  people  are  so  plain  they  like  to  be  told 
of  that  characteristic  constantly.  Likewise,  they 
dote  on  being  held  up  as  the  bone  and  sinew  of 
the  Nation.  Paragraph. 

"Always  be  in  sympathy  with  the  wrongs  of  the 
people.  Never  make  a  speech  without  referring 
to  the  sweat-toiling  masses.  The  great  toiling 
masses  like  publicity  for  their  greatness  and  sym 
pathy  for  their  toil.  Paragraph. 

"The  great  toiling  masses  would  be  mighty  un 
comfortable  and  unhappy  if  they  had  nothing  to 
kick  about.  So,  if  there  are  no  outrages  on  the 
body  politic,  think  up  a  few.  Paragraph. 

"The  secret  of  successful  political  oratory  is  to 
tell  the  people  what  they  already  know.  If  you 
thunder  at  them  for  two  hours  that  honesty  is  the 
best  policy  and  virtue  is  its  own  reward  they  will 
consider  you  a  patriot  and  vote  accordingly;  but 
if  you  elucidate  a  new  political  theory  they  will  say 
you  are  trying  to  sell  them  out  and  probably  will 
think  you  are  a  crook.  Paragraph. 

"Money  has  no  place  in  politics  except  to  defray 
legitimate  expenses.  Money  is  expended  illegiti- 


68  THE    FAKERS 

mately  in  politics  when  you  are  caught  expending 
it.  Wise  politicians  never  expend  money  in  politics 
themselves.  They  get  some  one  to  do  it  for  them. 
Then,  if  detection  comes,  their  hands  are  unsullied 
and  their  motives  cannot  be  impugned." 

The  Senator  stopped  again,  and  relighted  his 
cigar.  "That's  all  for  now,"  he  said. 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Hicks,  "a  speech  or  an 
article,  or  what?" 

"Neither,"  replied  Paxton.  "It  is  merely  an 
epistle  for  the  aid  and  guidance  of  any  aspiring 
young  man  who  desires  to  become  a  successful  poli 
tician,  containing  some  observations  on  the  funda 
mental  principles  of  such  a  person's  vocation." 

"What  shall  I  do  with  it?" 

"Oh,  make  a  few  copies,  and  keep  one  for  your 
self.  It  might  be  of  use  to  you  some  day,  for  it 
contains  the  condensed  wisdom  of  thirty  years  of 
dealing  with  the  people  in  public  life." 

Hicks  looked  in  the  Congressional  Directory  and 
found  the  Representative  from  the  Rextown  dis 
trict  lived  in  Rextown.  He  went  over  to  that 
statesman's  committee-room  and  introduced  himself 
to  the  secretary  of  the  Representative. 

"I'm  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,"  he  said,  "assistant 
secretary  to  Senator  Paxton." 

"Glad  to  meet  you,  Mr.  Hicks,"  the  secretary 
responded.  "My  name  is  Duffield,  James  R.  Duf- 
field.  What  can  I  do  for  you?" 

"Oh,  nothing  much,"  Hicks  replied,  "but  a  friend 
of  mine  out  home  is  thinking  of  locating  in  some 
middle-western  city  and  he  wrote  me  and  asked  me 
if  I  knew  anything  about  Rextown.  So  I  thought 
I'd  drop  over  and  see  you  and  get  some  points." 

"It's  a  good  town,"  Duffield  replied,  assuming 
the  tone  of  a  booster.  "It's  the  best  town  in  the 
Middle  West,  growing  by  leaps  and  bounds  and 


THE    FAKERS  69 

has  the  best  water,  the  best  climate,  the  biggest 
buildings,  the  most  complete  street-car  system,  the 
finest  park  system,  the  greatest  hustlers  among  the 
business  men,  the  most  expensive  homes,  the  great 
est  bank  clearings  of  any  town  of  its  size  in  that 
section,  the  biggest  jobbing-houses  and  it's  one  of 
the  largest  mill  and  factory  towns  anywhere  in  the 
Middle  West." 

"What's  that?"  asked  Hicks,  "a  big  mill  and 
factory  town?" 

"One  of  the  biggest,"  boasted  Duffield.  "Why, 
our  factories 

"How  do  the  men  in  the  factories  vote?"  asked 
Hicks,  interrupting. 

"Oh,  they  vote  the  Republican  ticket.  Paddy 
Ross,  the  boss  out  there,  sees  to  that.  Talk  about 
Republican  towns  and  counties !  Why,  Mr.  Hicks, 
there  hasn't  been  a  Democrat  elected  out  there  since 
Hector  was  a  pup,  and  Corliss  County  is  unanimous 
for  the  G.  O.  P.,  every  crack  out  of  the  box." 

"What  is  the  factory  vote — how  much  of  the 
total  vote,  I  mean?"  Hicks  asked. 

"About  half,  I  guess,"  Duffield  replied,  "maybe  a 
little  more." 

"How  many  Democrats  are  there  in  Rextown?" 

"A  thousand,  in  round  numbers,  perhaps.  Old 
Perk  Rollins  sort  of  hangs  on  to  them  and  herds 
them  up  at  election  times,  but,  pshaw!  they  haven't 
got  a  chance." 

"Still,"  continued  Hicks,  who  saw  possibilities, 
"if  that  labor  vote  should  get  away  from  you  and 
go  with  the  Democrats  once  they'd  clean  you  up, 
wouldn't  they?" 

"Sure!"  assented  Duffield,  "but  there  isn't  a 
chance;  not  a  chance.  Paddy  Ross  holds  that  vote 
for  us,  and  Paddy  will  hang  onto  it,  too,  you  can 
bet  on  that." 


yo  THE    FAKERS 

Hicks  asked  a  few  more  questions,  listened  im 
patiently  to  another  panegyric  about  Rextown, 
thanked  him,  and  hurried  back  to  Senator  Paxton's 
office. 

"Senator,"  he  said,  "that  town  of  Rextown  looks 
pretty  good  to  me.  I  was  talking  to  a  young  fel 
low  from  there,  Malcom's  secretary,  and  he  tells 
me  it  is  a  big  mill  and  factory  town,  and  that  the 
labor  vote  is  about  half  of  the  total." 

"Well?"  interjected  Paxton. 

"He  says  there  are  about  a  thousand  dyed-in- 
the-wool  Democrats,  too,  and  there  might  come  a 
chance,  on  some  local  or  national  issue,  to  shift 
that  labor  vote.  Then  I'd  win." 

"Such  things  have  been  known,"  commented  Pax- 
ton,  to  whom  this  situation  was  no  news.  "How 
are  you  getting  on  with  your  law?" 

"I'll  have  my  degree  in  February.  The  ex 
aminers  will  allow  me  credit  for  the  time  I  studied 
back  home  with  Judge  Smith,  and  then  I  can  take 
the  examination." 

"Can  you  pass  it?" 

"Pass  it?'/  and  Hicks  laughed.  "Why,  Senator, 
all  my  studies  have  been  directed  to  that  end.  I 
have  inquired  into  only  such  principles  of  the  law 
as  will  come  up  in  that  examination.  This  course  of 
mine  has  been  nothing  but  a  coaching  to  pass  that 
test." 

"I  see,  and  such  real  knowledge  of  the  law  as 
you  will  eventually  have  you  will  obtain  after  you 
are  out  of  law  school  and  a  member  of  the  bar?" 

"That's  the  idea,"  Hicks  replied. 

Hicks  applied  himself  for  several  weeks,  secured 
his  degree,  and  took  the  examination.  He  passed 
by  a  narrow  margin.  Senator  Paxton  told  him  he 
would  fix  it  so  he  would  be  admitted  on  motion  to 
the  Rextown  bar,  on  the  strength  of  his  District 


THE    FAKERS  71 

of  Columbia  certificate,  and  Hicks  swaggered  about 
the  boarding-house  because  of  his  new  distinction. 
Also,  he  let  it  be  known,  generally,  that,  notwith 
standing  his  association  with  Senator  Paxton,  he 
had  concluded  the  Democratic  party  more  closely 
approached  his  ideals  as  the  party  that  had  the  in 
terests  of  the  plain  people  close  at  heart,  and  that 
he  had  decided  to  cast  his  political  fortunes  with 
the  Democracy  for  that  reason.  Paxton  and  Mad 
den  chuckled,  and  everybody  else  predicted  Hicks 
would  soon  lose  his  job. 

Hicks  sent  for  the  Rextown  papers  and  read 
them  carefully,  familiarizing  himself  with  the  names 
of  the  people  most  mentioned  in  their  columns, 
gained  a  smattering  of  the  local  politics  of  the  place 
and  informed  himself,  so  well  as  he  was  able,  of 
the  characteristics  of  the  surrounding  country  and 
the  intricacies  of  the  city  government.  The  papers 
gave  a  great  deal  of  space  to  local  politics,  and 
Hicks  read  what  was  said  with  a  rather  clear  under 
standing. 

Paxton  talked  with  Hicks  frequently  about  the 
plan,  never  going  so  far  with  him  as  he  had  with 
Madden,  but  by  skillful  reference  to  the  manners 
and  methods  of  men  in  Congress  impressing  on 
Hicks  the  basic  political  fact  that  the  general  po 
litical  gullibility  of  the  people,  as  a  mass,  is  a 
natural  and  legitimate  political  asset.  Hicks,  on 
the  other  hand,  while  fully  convinced  of  the  truth 
of  this,  both  from  what  the  Senator  told  him  and 
his  own  observations,  sought  to  maintain,  and  did 
maintain — to  his  own  satisfaction,  at  least, — the 
pose  of  a  belief  that  the  people  really  needed  his 
services,  and  that  he  could  best  attain  beneficial  re 
sults  by  taking  Paxton's  advice  and  being  a  Demo 
crat.  He  sometimes  combated  Paxton  when  Pax- 
ton  was  especially  bitter  and  cynical,  protesting  that 


72  THE    FAKERS 

the  people  were  not  so  easily  fooled  as  Paxton 
imagined. 

Paxton  enjoyed  this  hugely,  for  it  was  evidence 
to  him  that  he  had  not  misread  Hicks,  and  Hicks 
thought  he  was  making  the  impression  that  what  he 
had  in  mind  was  merely  a  means  to  gain  a  most 
desirable  end,  which,  as  he  stoutly  asserted  to  Pax- 
ton,  was  the  general  good  of  the  people;  but  which 
was,  of  course,  the  immediate  and  continued  good 
of  Hicks.  As  time  went  on,  Hicks  became  en 
thusiastic  over  the  idea,  and  Paxton  had  much 
amusement  in  planning  the  details. 

"How's  the  Paxton-Hicks  coalition  coming 
along?"  asked  Madden  one  day. 

"Fine!"  Paxton  replied.  "Tommie  has  swal 
lowed  the  bait,  and  is  trying  to  make  me  think  he's 
only  nibbling  at  it." 

"He  talks  to  me  about  it  by  the  hour,"  said 
Madden.  "I  think  he's  beginning  to  believe  he 
has  a  mission  to  go  out  and  reform  things.  He's 
getting  a  lot  of  genuine  reformer  earmarks." 

"Don't  make  the  mistake  of  classing  all  reformers 
as  bogus,  Madden,"  and  Paxton  was  very  serious. 
"There  are  plenty  of  men  who  are  earnest  and 
sincere  and  honest  and  helpful  in  their  efforts  to 
eliminate  a  lot  of  abuses  that  have  grown  into  our 
political  and  economic  system.  Not  all  of  them  are 
fakers,  by  a  long  shot.  I,  personally,  have  the 
greatest  respect  for  a  man  who  believes  what  he 
says,  and  who  acts  on  his  own,  honest  convictions. 
The  chaps  I  detest  are  these  canting,  hypocritical, 
faking  humbugs  we  see  around  us  in  such  great 
numbers.  The  great  fault  of  our  politics  isn't  graft 
or  dishonesty  or  anything  of  that  sort,  Madden. 
It's  hypocrisy." 

He  walked  back  and  forth  across  his  room. 

"Great  God  I"  he  exclaimed,  "look  around  you. 


THE    FAKERS  73 

Put  any  one  of  nine-tenths  of  these  hand-shakers 
and  four-flushers  under  the  acid  test,  and  that  one, 
and  all  the  rest,  will  turn  green  in  a  second.  Don't 
spare  me.  I  am  as  bogus  as  the  rest  of  them,  only 
I  admit  it,  privately,  of  course,  and  they  don't.  I 
have  been  thirty  years  in  public  life  and  I've  made 
a  fortune  out  of  politics  and  secured  a  reputation, 
and  am  counted  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Senate, 
and  I'd  be  back  home  running  a  grocery  store  if 
the  people  hadn't  made  it  so  easy  for  me.  They 
allowed  me  to  bunko  them,  and  I  utilized  my  oppor 
tunities.  Some  day  these  people  will  wake  up,  but, 
until  they  do,  they  themselves  will  be  the  instru 
ments  of  their  own  undoing." 

"Suppose  some  one  tried  to  wake  them  up,"  sug 
gested  Madden. 

"Some  one  will,  some  day,"  Paxton  replied,  "but 
not  yet,  and  not  Hicks.  When  that  time  comes 
we'll  all  scuttle  for  the  high  grass.  Until  it  does 
come  the  game  will  go  on  in  the  same  old  way,  for 
there's  no  use  trying  to  get  the  yolk  out  of  a 
china  egg,  nor  any  profit,  either.  So  far  as  Tommie 
is  concerned,  he  won't  try  to  awaken  them.  His 
idea  is  to  keep  them  fast  asleep." 


CHAPTER  IX 

IT  was  arranged  that  Hicks  should  start  for 
Rextown  in  April.     Paxton  told  him  he  was 
wasting  time   in  the   office,   inasmuch   as   he 
had  his  future  plans  so  carefully  considered, 
and  urged  an  early  beginning.     The  Senator 
was  much  pleased  with  the  eager  manner  in  which 
Hicks  had  undertaken  this  cynical  enterprise  of  his, 
and  anxious  for  the  actual  test  of  it.     He  felt  sure 
he  had  an  able  and  amenable  subject  for  his  mini 
strations,  and  told  Hicks  not  to  let  lack  of  money 
bother  him,  as  he  was  quite  willing  to  assist  him 
financially. 

While  Paxton  had  not  been  frank  with  Hicks, 
neither  had  Hicks  been  frank  with  Paxton.  Hicks 
was  without  a  scruple,  and  was  willing  to  take  any 
step  that  would  advance  him  along  the  line  of  his 
ambitions,  but  he  felt  he  should  not  disclose  these 
inner  attitudes  of  mind  and  conscience  to  the  Sen 
ator.  He  considered  the  Senator's  interest  in  him 
as  a  friendly  attempt  to  aid  a  young  man  who  had 
attracted  the  notice  of  that  statesman  by  his  eminent 
abilities.  Paxton  read  Hicks  like  a  book,  but  Hicks 
did  not  get  further  than  the  preface  to  Paxton. 
Paxton  had  made  just  the  sort  of  an  arrangement 
with  Hicks  he  had  in  mind  to  make,  and  his  pre 
liminary  negotiations  with  Hicks  and  their  working 
out  had  given  him  so  much  amusement  that  he  was 
sure  the  processes  of  development  would  be  even 
more  entertaining.  Hicks  felt  he  had  concealed  his 

74 


THE    FAKERS  75 

real  character  from  Paxton,  and  had  listened  to  Pax- 
ton's  satirical  lectures  on  the  abuses  of  the  body 
politic,  which  abuses  Paxton  was  daily  engaged  in 
making  greater,  with  an  air  of  belief  in  their  literal- 
ness,  that  Hicks  felt  was  most  skillful  dissimulation. 
Paxton  discussed  the  attitude  of  Hicks  with  Madden, 
and  laughed  over  it. 

"He's  a  convert  and  a  crusader,  Madden,"  said 
Paxton.  "I  am  constrained  to  think  that  T.  Mar- 
maduke  Hicks  will  add  to  the  gaiety  of  the  nation 
as  time  goes  on." 

Hicks  finished  his  work  in  the  office,  bade  his 
Washington  friends  good-by,  and  left  for  Sales- 
town  to  see  his  mother.  Senator  Paxton  drove  him 
to  the  train. 

"Good-by,  Tommie,"  the  Senator  said,  just  be 
fore  the  train  pulled  out,  "good-by  and  good  luck. 
Remember  that,  from  this  time  forward,  you  are  a 
tribune  of  the  people,  a  life-long  Democrat  since 
day  before  yesterday,  and  a  foe  to  the  corrupt 
forces  of  wealth  and  plutocracy.  Keep  me  in 
formed  of  your  progress,  and  play  the  game  as  I 
have  outlined  it  to  you.  Be  serious  about  it.  The 
people  must  think  you  are  in  earnest,  no  matter 
whether  you  are  or  not,  else  you  are  lost.  Here 
are  a  few  further  thoughts  I  have  jotted  down  for 
you.  Good-by  and  good  luck." 

He  handed  Hicks  an  envelope,  waved  his  hand 
and  walked  away.  Hicks  found  his  berth,  arranged 
his  baggage,  and  opened  the  envelope.  It  con 
tained  a  check  for  a  thousand  dollars,  and  this 
letter : 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  17,  1899. 
"DEAR  HICKS: 

"As  principal  promoter  of  this  enterprise,  let  me  call  your 
attention  to  the  fact  that  certain  traditions  and  precedents 
in  politics  have  been  in  vogue  so  long  that  they  have  the 


76  THE    FAKERS 

force  of  rules.  Occasionally,  a  politician  arises  who  does  not 
play  the  game  according  to  the  rules,  but  he  can  be  con 
demned,  unsparingly,  as  an  upstart  and  a  demagogue  and  the 
traditions  and  precedents  thereby  preserved. 

"Dress  is  an  important  thing,  and  depends,  somewhat,  on 
the  section  from  which  you  come.  Do  not,  in  any  circum 
stances  allow  yourself  to  overdress,  especially  as  you  are  to 
make  your  appeal  to  the  plain  people  to  whom  plain  living 
and  plain  dressing  are  marks  of  virtue.  Wear  clothes  similar 
in  kind  to  those  your  constituents  wear,  or  the  bulk  of  them, 
but  do  not  underestimate  the  value  of  a  plug  hat  and  a 
frock  coat  on  occasions.  Be  dignified,  but  not  too  dignified. 
Be  familiar,  but  not  too  familiar.  Gauge  your  public  care 
fully,  and  be  all  things  to  all  men,  but  be  careful  to  be  the 
kind  of  thing  to  each  man  that  appeals  to  that  particular 
man. 

"For  example,  never  take  a  drink  with  a  clergyman,  and 
never  fail  to  buy  one  for  a  ward  boss.  You  are  as  good  as 
the  greatest  citizen  of  your  community,  and  no  better  than 
the  humblest  one.  Always  remember  that — when  canvassing 
the  district. 

"There  is  ample  precedent  for  the  statement  that  no  frivo 
lous  person  ever  got  anywhere  permanently  in  American 
politics.  It  is  well  to  be  borne  down  by  the  seriousness  of 
the  situation,  and  to  assume  an  impressive  manner  of  speak 
ing.  Do  not  allow  yourself  to  be  led  into  any  public  display 
of  wit,  and  never,  by  any  chance,  make  a  public  demonstra 
tion  of  a  sense  of  humor.  When  stating  your  conclusions 
state  them  with  an  air  of  finality  that  is  observed  when  a 
justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  hands  down  a 
decision. 

"Never  fail  to  take  active  cognizance  of  any  movement, 
or  issue,  or  policy  that  is  favored  by  the  religious  bodies. 
Allign  yourself — publicly — with  the  better  elements,  and  go 
to  church  regularly.  This  will  enable  you  to  carry  on,  with 
much  less  danger  of  detection,  the  necessary  negotiation  with 
the  other,  baser,  but  politically  important,  elements  of  your 
community. 

"Always  keep  your  promises.  That  is  to  say,  always  claim 
to  keep  your  promises  and  always  assert,  vigorously,  that  you 
do  keep  them  to  the  letter.  An  expert  politician  can  find 


THE    FAKERS  77 

many  ways  for  breaking  promises — after  he  is  elected — and 
after  you  are  elected  you  have  secured  your  reward,  and  do 
not  need  votes  for  the  time  being. 

"If  you  have  an  obvious  thing  to  do,  do  it  in  a  highly 
complicated  manner.  Befog  every  action.  Never  make  a 
direct  statement  on  a  matter  of  policy  and  never  do  a  direct 
thing  until  you  have  carefully  calculated  the  consequences. 
Many  a  political  career  has  been  ruined  by  haste  in  such 
matters.  The  trimmer  usually  lands. 

"Do  not  be  led,  at  any  time,  into  telling  the  truth  about 
any  political  proposition.  Truth-telling  in  politics  is  the 
mark  of  the  inexperienced  politician,  but  be  careful  to  lie 
skillfully,  and  always  remember  just  how  you  lied. 

"If  you  want  a  political  place,  induce  several  people  to 
run  for  the  same  place.  Do  not  select  men  strong  enough  to 
get  the  place — that  would  mess  things  up  frightfully — but 
get  aspirants  who  can  control  a  few  votes  in  the  convention. 
This  multiplication  of  candidates  will  help  you  amazingly. 
Conversely,  it  will  aid  you  to  beat  some  man  whom  you 
desire  to  beat. 

"Never  talk.  Always  confer.  That  impresses  the  people 
and  looks  fine  in  the  newspapers. 

"I  leave  these  few  final  political  principles  in  your  hands, 
confident  you  will  discover  their  worth.  These  and  the 
others  I  have  given  you  have  stood  the  test  of  time.  They 
can  be  relied  upon  to  be  most  useful  in  the  game  of  fooling 
the  people  and  achieving  real  political  success.  Keep  me 
posted.  Draw  reasonably  if  you  need  money.  Good  luck, 
and  don't  forget  you  are  a  lifelong  Democrat.  Also,  most 
important  of  all,  be  serious — take  yourself  seriously,  and  the 
people  likewise. 

"Hopefully, 

"WILLIAM  H.  PAXTON." 

Hicks  had  saved  fifteen  hundred  dollars  and  the 
Paxton  thousand  gave  him  a  working  capital  of 
twenty-five  hundred  dollars.  Paxton  had  secured 
for  him  a  letter  of  introduction  from  a  Democratic 
friend  who  knew  Perkins  G.  Rollins,  the  Rextown 
Democratic  leader,  and  he  had  a  letter  to  the  First 


78  THE    FAKERS 

National  Bank.  He  had  written  to  his  mother  to 
have  his  father's  law-books  shipped  to  him,  and  he 
had  in  his  trunk  his  certificate  of  admission  to  the 
District  of  Columbia  bar,  neatly  framed,  also  his 
law  school  diploma,  and  his  picture  of  President 
McKinley. 

He  arrived  in  Rextown  on  the  morning  of  the 
second  day,  went  to  the  Hotel  Metropolis,  which 
he  knew  to  be  the  biggest  hotel  in  the  place,  and 
registered:  "T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  Washington, 
D.  C." 

Hicks  knew  enough  about  the  ways  of  small 
town  newspapers  to  understand  that  a  man  who 
registers  in  a  small  town  from  Washington,  D.  C., 
is  always  considered  as  a  potential  news-giver,  and 
always  is  approached  by  the  local  reporters.  Fif 
teen  minutes  after  he  was  in  his  room  a  bellboy 
brought  up  the  card  of  Charles  Bignall,  reporter 
for  the  Rextown  Globe. 

"Ask  him  to  come  up,"  Hicks  said  to  the  bell 
boy,  and  Bignall  came. 

"Mr.  Hicks?"  he  inquired,  as  he  entered. 

"Yes!  Mr.  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks." 

"I  noticed  on  the  register  you  are  from  Wash 
ington.  Is  there  any  news  in  your  visit;  anything 
official,  I  mean?  I  thought  possibly  you  might  be 
a  Government  official." 

"No,"  Hicks  replied,  "I  am  not  a  Government 
official,  although  I  have  been  more  or  less  in  touch 
with  the  workings  of  the  Senate  for  some  time. 
However,  I  shall  be  glad  to  answer  any  questions 
you  may  care  to  put  to  me  on  Washington  topics." 

Bignall  asked  him  about  a  pending  measure  and 
Hicks  expertly  analyzed  it.  Furthermore,  he  dis 
cussed  several  other  live  topics  understandingly  and 
with  a  Democratic  angle  and  gave  Bignall  a  good 
story. 


THE    FAKERS  79 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Hicks,"  Bignall  said,  after 
Hicks  had  finished.  "That'll  make  a  corking  inter 
view.  Give  me  a  scoop  on  it,  will  you?" 

"What  do  you  mean?"  Hicks  asked. 

"Why,  don't  talk  to  the  other  afternoon  paper." 

"I  could  hardly  do  that,"  Hicks  replied,"  unless 
— unless " 

"Unless  what?"  asked  Bignall. 

"Unless  you  will  promise  to  say  in  your  opening 
paragraph  that  I  have  decided  to  enter  on  the  prac 
tice  of  the  law  here  and  hope  to  take  an  active  part 
in  Democratic  politics." 

Bignall  laughed.  "You've  got  a  nerve,"  he  said, 
"coming  here  to  be  a  Democrat.  Why,  this  town 
is  so  Republican  the  Democrats  can't  get  trusted  at 
the  stores.  Old  Perk  Rollins  is  about  all  there  is 
to  the  Democratic  party  here." 

"Well,  you  might  mention  then  that  the  Demo 
cratic  party  in  Rexiown  has  been  increased  fifty  per 
cent,  and  is  now  composed  of  Mr.  Rollins  and  T. 
Marmaduke  Hicks." 

"All  right,"  assented  Bignall.  "I've  got  to  jump 
back  and  get  this  in  the  home  edition.  I'll  take 
care  of  you." 

Hicks  kept  his  promise  by  going  out  on  the  street 
and  taking  his  first  view  of  Rextown.  He  found 
it  a  clean,  lively  city  of  about  sixty  thousand  people, 
with  good  stores,  good  buildings,  good  pavements 
and  a  prosperous-looking  people.  He  walked  about 
until  the  Globe  came  out.  His  interview  was  promi 
nently  displayed  on  the  first  page.  The  opening 
paragraph  read:  "Mr.  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  who 
has  been  identified  with  Washington  affairs  in  an 
official  capacity  in  the  United  States  Senate,  arrived 
in  Rextown  this  morning  to  take  up  his  residence 
here  and  enter  on  the  practice  of  the  law.  Mr. 
Hicks  is  a  well-known  Democrat  and,  in  discussing 


8o  THE    FAKERS 

affairs  at  the  Capital,  made  the  following  com 
ment  to  a  reporter  for  the  Globe:" 

Bignall  had  written  a  very  good  report  of  his 
interview,  and  Hicks  was  much  gratified.  As  he 
entered  the  Metropolis  Hotel  the  clerk,  somewhat 
impressed,  said:  "Say,  Mr.  Hicks,  there's  been  a 
reporter  for  the  Leader  around  here  all  the  after 
noon  looking  for  you." 

"Is  that  so?"  asked  Hicks,  easily.  "I  am  sorry 
I  missed  him.  If  he  returns  I  shall  be  in  my  room." 

Then  he  went  upstairs,  after  buying  several  copies 
of  the  Globe,  cut  out  his  interview  and  mailed  one 
of  the  clippings  to  Senator  Paxton,  with  no  com 
ment.  Two  days  later  he  received  a  telegram  from 
the  Senator  which  said:  "Congratulations.  Appar 
ently,  your  face  is  correctly  and  ardently  turned 
toward  the  morning." 


CHAPTER   X 

THE  Chronicle  reporter  came  around  that 
night,  and  Hicks  gave  him  an  interview 
also,  and  secured  a  line  in  it  stating  that 
he  was  to  open  law  offices  there.     This 
reporter    was    Peter    Farley,    and    told 
Hicks  his  paper  had  Democratic  leanings  inasmuch 
as  it  was  largely  financed  by  Rollins. 

"Who  is  Rollins?"  Hicks  asked  Farley. 
"Why,"  said  Farley,  "he  is  a  nice  old  chap  who 
made  a  world  of  money  in  the  lumber  business.  He 
has  retired,  and  now  he  is  crazy  for  free  lumber. 
He's  a  low-tariff  man,  almost  a  free  trader,  a  state's 
rights  man,  and  he  believes  in  some  Swiss  monkey 
business  they  call  the  initiative  and  the  referendum 
and  in  universal  primaries  and  all  that  sort  of  guff. 
He  takes  politics  like  he  takes  his  religion,  thinks 
the  Democratic  party  is  called  upon  to  restore  the 
nation  to  the  principles  of  the  fathers,  hates  Grover 
Cleveland,  adores  Bryan,  and  puts  up  his  money  to 
keep  up  a  sort  of  a  Democratic  organization.  He 
meets  the  deficit  on  my  paper,  too,  and  gets  his 
money's  worth  by  printing  long  screeds  abusing  the 
Republicans  and  saying  kind  words  for  William 
Jennings  and  Thomas  Jefferson.  He's  the  greatest 
letter  writer  out  of  a  correspondence  school,  and 
is  always  drafting  platforms  and  circulating  stuff 
about  his  new  political  fads." 

"A  sort  of  a  crank?"  asked  Hicks. 
"No,  sir,  not  a  crank.     He's  a  decent  old  chap, 
81 


82  THE    FAKERS 

whose  passion  is  Democratic  politics.  He  has  shares 
in  a  bank  here,  and  is  one  of  the  biggest  stockholders 
in  the  Metropolitan  Hotel.  He's  always  fighting 
the  street-car  company  and  our  gang  of  grafting 
aldermen,  and  is  a  fine,  upstanding  public-spirited 
citizen.  Better  look  him  up  if  you're  a  Democrat." 

"I  shall,"  said  Hicks.  "I'll  call  on  him  to-mor 
row." 

Next  morning  Flicks  made  some  inquiries  about 
Rollins,  and  had  discovered  that  Rollins  had  the 
local  credit  for  a  fortune  of  half  a  million  dollars, 
that  he  had  no  political  ambitions  himself,  but  was 
resolved  there  should  be  a  Democratic  party  in  Rex- 
town  if  he  was  the  only  member.  He  was  state 
committeeman  for  that  party,  and  generally  headed 
the  hopeless  local  tickets. 

Hicks  found  Rollins  in  his  office  in  one  of  the 
local  skyscrapers.  He  was  hunched  up  in  a  chair 
writing  a  long  letter  to  the  editor  of  the  New  York 
World,  in  which  he  was  pointing  out  the  utter  lack 
of  patriotism  and  the  criminal  disregard  of  the 
rights  of  the  people  in  a  certain  Republican  tariff 
proposal.  He  was  a  small  man,  bald,  with  a  smooth- 
shaven,  leathery  face,  and  deep  set  eyes  that  burned 
with  the  fervor  of  his  partisanship.  His  desk  was 
covered  with  little  piles  of  pamphlets  which  he  had 
written  and  had  had  printed  at  his  own  expense,  and 
on  his  office  walls  there  were  pictures  of  Thomas 
Jefferson,  Andrew  Jackson  and  William  Jennings 
Bryan,  and  a  facsimile  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence. 

"Howdy,"  saluted  Rollins,  as  Hicks  entered. 

"How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Rollins.  I  assume  you 
are  Mr.  Rollins." 

"Your  assumption  is  correct.  Have  a  chair. 
What  can  I  do  for  you?" 

Hicks  handed  him  his  letter  of  introduction.     "I 


THE    FAKERS  83 

am  Mr.  Hicks,"  he  said,  "and  I  take  great  pleasure 
in  presenting  this  letter  from  an  old  friend  of  yours, 
Representative  McAllister." 

Rollins  read  the  letter,  drumming  with  the  fingers 
of  one  hand  on  his  desk  as  he  did  so. 

"You're  the  young  man  who  had  the  interviews 
in  the  paper,  I  suppose?" 

"Yes,  sir.  I  was  interviewed  when  I  arrived  yes 
terday." 

"Glad  to  meet  you.  Hope  McAllister  was  well 
when  you  left  him.  Democrat  I  understood  you  to 
say,  or  did  I  read  it  in  the  paper?" 

"I  am  a  Democrat,  and  as  I  understand  it  you 
are  the  leader  of  the  party  in  this  city." 

"More  than  that,  son,  more  than  that.  I'm  al 
most  all  there  is  to  the  Democratic  party  in  Rex- 
town." 

"Well,  I  desire  to  join  hands  with  you,  to  enlist 
under  your  banner,  to  aid  you  in  your  fight  against 
the  entrenched  and  corrupt  forces  of  Republican 
ism." 

Rollins  looked  at  Hicks  shrewdly.  "You  do,  do 
you?"  he  asked. 

"I  do." 

"For  what  reason?" 

"For  the  reasons  I  just  gave  you.  I  hope  I  may 
be  welcome." 

Rollins  whistled.  He  got  up,  walked  to  the  win 
dow,  glanced  out  on  the  street,  came  back  and  drew 
his  chair  over  to  Hicks. 

"Young  man,"  he  said,  kindly,  putting  his  hand 
on  Hicks's  knee,  "excuse  me  if  I  appear  to  be  sur 
prised.  This  rather  takes  the  breath  out  of  me. 
The  idea  of  a  lawyer — you  are  a  lawyer,  ain't  you?" 

Hicks  nodded. 

"Well,  the  idea  of  a  lawyer  coming  to  a  Republi 
can  hotbed  like  this  and  joining  the  Democratic 


84  THE    FAKERS 

party — a  lawyer,  you  know — a  lawyer — one  of 
those  persons  who  always  look  before  they  leap 
into  politics — the  idea  of  that  rather  flabbergasts 
me.  You  know,"  and  he  smiled  a  curious  little  smile 
at  Hicks,  "you  know,  my  boy,  there  hasn't  been  a 
real,  live  recruit  to  the  Democratic  party  in  Rex- 
town  or  Corliss  County  for  five  years,  and  we  lost 
a  lot  of  our  fellows  on  the  free  silver  issue." 

"All  the  more  reason  you  should  want  me,  then," 
suggested  Hicks. 

"Sure,  but  it  sort  of  paralyzes  me,  just  the  same. 
How  long  have  you  been  a  Democrat?" 

Hicks  knew  this  question  would  be  put  to  him, 
and  he  had  prepared  his  answer. 

"Long  enough,"  he  said,  rather  oratorically,  "to 
feel  certain  that  this  country  is  going  to  ruin  under 
the  maladministration  of  the  Republican  party,  in 
fluenced  as  it  is  by  special  interests  and  controlled 
by  corporate  greed.  Long  enough  to  have  faith 
that,  through  the  medium  of  the  enlightenment  of 
the  people,  a  return  may  be  made  to  the  principles 
and  practice  of  the  fathers,  and  our  country  saved 
from  the  rape  of  the  plutocrats  and  the  sack  of  the 
unscrupulous  stock-jobbers  of  Wall  Street." 

Rollins's  look  of  curiosity  changed  to  one  of  ad 
miration.  "Good  boy!"  he  said,  "Good  boy.  Go 
on." 

"I  am  a  newcomer,  as  you  know,"  continued 
Hicks,  most  encouraged,  "and  I  have  a  deep,  pa 
triotic  interest  in  politics.  I  believe  in  Democratic 
principles.  I  am  for  the  plain  people,  unalterably 
for  the  masses  as  against  the  corrupt  classes.  I 
know  of  your  unselfish  devotion  to  this  high  and 
holy  cause.  I  desire  to  join  with  you,  to  aid  you, 
to  fight  with  you,  and,  eventually,  to  assist  you  in 
redeeming  this  city  and  this  state  from  these  Re 
publican  abuses.  Am  I  welcome?" 


THE    FAKERS  85 

"Hooray!"  shouted  Rollins,  jumping  to  his  feet 
and  clapping  his  hands.  "That's  the  real  McCoy! 
In  a  month  I'll  have  you  out  making  speeches.  Are 
you  welcome?  Are  you  welcome?  Why,  my  boy, 
you  are  as  welcome  as  an  August  rain  after  a  dry 
spell  in  the  corn-belt.  Welcome!  Why  you  are 
positively  providential.  Come  on,  let's  talk  things 
over." 

They  had  a  long  conversation.  Hicks  soon  dis 
covered  that  Rollins  was  fanatical  in  his  belief  in 
Democratic  principles,  that  he  considered  himself 
a  sort  of  a  crusader  against  what  he  called  "the 
Mammon-controlled  party  of  special  interests," 
meaning  the  Republicans,  and  that  he  was  willing 
to  spend  his  money  freely,  asking  nothing  but  the 
fun  of  the  fight.  He  went  over  the  situation  in 
detail  with  Hicks,  told  of  his  work  and  of  the  or 
ganization  he  endeavored  to  maintain,  how  he  was 
handicapped  by  the  general  apathy,  and  read  Hicks 
extracts  from  several  of  his  pamphlets,  which  proved 
to  Hicks  that,  even  though  a  fanatic,  Rollins  had 
a  clear  mind,  good  reasoning  powers  and  an  excel 
lent  command  of  simple  and  forceful  language.  He 
told  Hicks  of  the  local  situation,  dominated  by  the 
Republicans  for  years,  working  through  a  local 
boss  named  Paddy  Ross,  and  how  the  public  utili 
ties — the  street  cars  and  the  electric  light  plant, 
and  the  waterworks  and  the  gas  works — could  get 
anything  they  wanted  from  the  aldermen  and  city 
government  because  they  kept  Ross  on  their  pay 
roll,  and  Ross  was  the  Republican  organization 
leader.  Hicks's  knowledge  of  general  politics  stood 
him  in  good  stead.  He  was  most  polite  and  defer 
ential  to  Rollins,  and  soon  was  on  terms  of  friend 
ship  and  implied  association  with  him.  His  letter 
of  introduction  had  established  him  primarily,  and 
he  completed  the  good  impression  himself. 


86  THE    FAKERS 

As  he  rose  to  go  Rollins  said:  "Got  any  cases 
yet?" 

"Why,  no,"  Hicks  replied,  "I  arrived  only  yester 
day,  you  know." 

"Well,  how'd  you  like  to  take  a  case  for  me. 
An  old  rapscallion  named  Jim  Barkiss  is  trying  to 
beat  me  out  of  a  claim  I've  got  on  his  property. 
Know  anything  about  contracts?" 

"I  think  so,"  evaded  Hicks. 

"All  right;  here's  the  case,"  and  Rollins  went  off 
into  a  long  recital  of  his  difficulties  with  Jim  Bar- 
kiss,  telling  an  involved  story  of  deals  and  mort 
gages  and  liens,  and  payments  and  rebuttals,  to 
which  Hicks  listened  in  a  daze. 

"Got  it?"  asked  Rollins.  "Got  it  clear  in  your 
mind?" 

"Perfectly,"  fibbed  Hicks,  who  had  no  idea  of 
what  it  was  all  about. 

"Good,"  said  Rollins,  "here's  the  papers,"  and  he 
thrust  a  mass  of  legal  documents  into  the  hands  of 
Hicks.  "See  what  you  can  do." 

Hicks  took  the  papers,  and  rose  to  go.  "Good- 
by,  Mr.  Rollins,"  he  said,  "I  shall  see  you  soon 
and  often,  and  we'll  reorganize  and  rejuvenate  this 
Democratic  party  out  here.  Good-day." 

He  put  out  his  hand  and  Rollins  took  it.  "Son," 
he  said,  "I  don't  know  whether  I'm  playing  fair 
with  you  or  not  in  giving  you  that  case.  It's  been 
in  litigation  here  for  a  long  time,  and  I  got  so  mad 
about  it  that  I  just  took  it  from  the  hands  of  my 
regular  lawyer  who  was  jockeying  along  on  it.  The 
lawyer  on  the  other  side  is  Jim  Chittlings,  a  hard 
customer  in  a  case  like  this,  and  you  are  young  in 
the  law,  very  young  in  the  law." 

"Oh,  that's  all  right,  Mr.  Rollins.  I'll  do  the 
best  I  can  with  it  and  maybe  my  youth  will  help 
me." 


THE    FAKERS  87 

"Yes,"  repeated  Rollins,  "you  are  young  in  the 
law.  Haven't  you  forgotten  something?" 

"No,"  Hicks  replied,  looking  about,  "I  think 
not." 

"Yes,  you  have,"  insisted  Rollins,  "or  you  are 
the  oddest  lawyer  I  ever  came  in  contact  with.  You 
haven't  asked  me  for  a  retainer." 

Hicks  gasped.  He  had  forgotten  the  most  im 
portant  detail  of  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

"Never  mind,"  soothed  Rollins,  "I'll  write  you  a 
check.  It  may  come  in  handy,"  and  he  gave  Hicks 
a  check  for  a  hundred  dollars.  That  young  man 
bowed  himself  out  with  his  heart  thumping,  his  brain 
reproaching  him  for  his  lack  of  business  acumen, 
and  the  check  clasped  tightly  in  his  hand. 


CHAPTER   XI 

TMARMADUKE  HICKS  was  walking 
on  air  when  he  went  down  the  street. 
He  arrived  at  the  Metropolis  Hotel, 
£    went  to  his  room  and  looked  lovingly  at 
his  check.   It  was  his  first  legal  fee.  He 
examined   the  papers   Rollins  had  given   him,   but 
could  make  nothing  out  of  them.     So  he  put  them 
in  his  trunk  and  went  down  in  the  lobby.     He  met 
Bignall  again,  and  talked  to  him  for  an  hour  dis 
cussing  the  buildings  of  the  town,  where   he  had 
best  get  an  office  and  various  matters  of  that  kind. 
He  inquired  about  boarding  houses  and  secured  sev 
eral  addresses.     Next  morning  he  took  his  money 
and  his  letter  to  the  First  National  Bank,  opened 
an  account,  and  called  on  Mrs.  Hungerford,  who 
kept  a  boarding  house  not  far  from  the  business  por 
tion  of  the  city.     Her  food  and  rooms  had  been 
praised  by  the  banker  to  whom  he  had  the  letter  of 
introduction. 

Mrs.  Hungerford's  boarding  house  was  clean 
and  comfortable.  She  told  Tommie  that  most  of 
her  boarders  were  of  the  better  class  of  clerks  and 
business  women,  with  a  professional  man  or  two, 
and  she  offered  him  a  room,  in  the  rear  on  the  third 
floor,  for  fifty  dollars  a  month,  with  meals.  He 
engaged  the  room,  and  moved  in  that  afternoon, 
and  on  the  following  day  set  about  renting  an  office. 
He  hesitated  between  two  rooms.  One  was  in  a 


THE    FAKERS  89 

three-story  brick  building  near  the  post-office,  a 
former  residence  that  had  been  built  over  into  of 
fices,  and  the  other  was  in  the  Blanding  Block,  the 
biggest  structure  in  Rextown.  The  rent  of  the  first 
room  was  twenty-five  dollars  a  month  and  the  rent 
of  the  Blanding  Block  office  was  twice  that.  Tom- 
mie  walked  through  the  halls  of  both  buildings. 
There  were  a  dentist  or  two,  an  architect,  a  couple 
of  insurance  agents  and  five  lawyers  in  the  old  build 
ing.  In  the  Blanding  Block  there  were  rows  of 
glass  doors,  carrying,  in  gilt  letters,  the  names  of 
lawyers  and  business  agencies  of  various  kinds.  He 
did  not  hesitate.  He  rented  the  office  in  the  Bland 
ing  Block  and  bought  some  furniture  on  the  instal 
ment  plan.  That  night  he  stood  in  the  hall  and 
looked  admiringly  at  the  gilt  letters  on  the  door  of 
his  office.  The  sign  fascinated  him.  It  read: 

T.  MARMADUKE  HICKS 
ATTORN  E  Y-  AT-LA  w 

In  a  day  or  two  his  furniture  was  installed,  and 
his  father's  law  books  had  arrived,  accompanied 
by  a  letter  from  his  mother  expressing  the  hope  that 
they  might  be  used  for  the  promotion  of  justice 
and  truth  and  the  welfare  of  the  people.  Tom- 
mie  put  them  on  his  shelves,  where  they  made  a 
good  showing,  although  most  of  them  were  reports 
of  New  York  state  and  not  of  much  consequence 
for  local  use.  There  were  a  few  books  of  univer 
sal  character.  Tommie  gazed  at  them  speculatively, 
wondered  what  was  in  them,  and  what  he  might 
be  able  to  do  with  them.  He  hung  his  certificate 
and  diploma  on  the  walls,  took  steps  to  have  him 
self  admitted  on  motion  to  the  local  bar,  and,  after 
that  had  been  accomplished,  with  the  aid  of  Sena 
tor  Paxton's  letter  and  of  an  old  friend  of  his  at  the 


90  THE    FAKERS 

Rextown  bar,  he  began  the  consideration  of  the 
Rollins-Barkiss  case. 

It  was  a  complicated  case.  There  were  claims 
and  counter-claims  and  records  of  previous  actions 
begun  and  dropped.  Tommie  studied  the  papers 
long,  but  could  make  little  of  them.  All  he  could 
find  out  was  that  Rollins  claimed  one  thing  and 
Barkiss  another,  and  the  legal  phase  of  it  was  en 
tirely  beyond  him. 

He  spent  some  days  puzzling  over  the  papers, 
evolving  schemes  that  had  no  legal  foundation.  It 
was  all  he  had  to  do,  except  make  three  or  four  ap 
pearances  each  day  in  the  lobby  of  the  Metropolis 
Hotel,  and  drop  in  at  the  city  hall  and  court-house, 
with  occasional  visits  to  the  probate  court  and  the 
county  clerk's  office,  where  he  simulated  intense  oc 
cupation  and  consulted  records  assiduously. 

He  knew  so  little  law  he  could  get  no  grasp  of 
the  questions  involved.  He  ardently  desired  to 
make  a  showing,  and  felt  he  could  get  business  from 
Rollins  if  he  could  win  this  case.  On  the  same  floor 
of  the  Blanding  Block  the  offices  of  Johnson,  Ja 
cobs  and  Jones,  the  leading  lawyers  of  Rextown, 
occupied  half  a  dozen  rooms.  Hicks  had  called  on 
these  lawyers  and  they  had  received  him  with  grave 
politeness  and  welcomed  him  to  the  city.  He  had 
noticed,  at  a  desk  in  the  corner,  a  man  who  had 
a  big,  bulging  forehead,  wore  glasses,  and  was 
shabbily  dressed  and  had  a  general  air  of  being  glad 
he  was  permitted  to  sit  down  in  an  out-of-the-way 
place  and  read  calf-bound  books. 

Hicks  inquired  about  this  man  and  learned  he  was 
Gudger,  a  great  student  and  a  fine  lawyer,  but  a 
periodical  drunkard.  He  remained  sober  for  two 
or  three  months  and  then  drank  heavily  until  they 
took  him  to  the  hospital.  He  has  no  control  over 
his  appetite  for  liquor,  and  for  that  reason  had  no 


THE    FAKERS  91 

practice  nor  standing  at  the  bar.  But  he  knew  the 
law,  knew  more  of  it  than  Johnson,  Jacobs  and 
Jones  combined,  and  they  used  him  when  he  was 
sober  to  help  in  the  preparation  of  their  cases  and 
took  him  back  after  a  spree,  paying  him  a  small 
salary  and  giving  him  the  impression  they  were  his 
benefactors  for  allowing  him  to  draw  a  few  dollars 
a  week  and  do  most  of  the  real  work  around  the 
place. 

Hicks  went  into  this  office  and  spoke  to  Gud- 
ger.  "By  the  way,  Mr.  Gudger,"  he  said,  "could 
you  make  it  convenient  to  come  into  my  office  this 
afternoon  some  time.  I  have  a  little  matter  I  want 
to  discuss  with  you." 

"I'll  go  now,"  Gudger  replied. 

They  walked  to  Tommie's  single  room.  "Sit 
down,  Mr.  Gudger,"  said  Hicks.  "Here  is  what 
I  want  to  lay  before  you.  I  have  been  here  but  a 
short  time,  as  you  know,  but  many  pressing  matters 
engage  my  attention.  Mr.  Perkins  G.  Rollins  has 
given  me  a  small  case,  that,  really,  I  have  not  the 
time  to  handle.  I  was  wondering  if  you  would  look 
over  the  papers,  prepare  a  plan  of  action  for  me, 
and  elaborate  the  points  of  law  involved.  Of  course, 
I  shall  compensate  you,  and  it  really  will  be  a  great 
service  to  me  for  I  am  so  busy  I  cannot  attend  to 
the  preparation  of  the  case  myself." 

Gudger  looked  around  the  room,  with  its  array 
of  useless  law  books,  and  at  Tommie,  who  was 
endeavoring  to  give  the  impression  of  a  man  rushed 
with  his  work.  He  smiled,  a  little  wan  smile.  He 
had  just  returned  from  a  prolonged  debauch,  was 
weak  and  trembly,  and  had  been  severely  repri 
manded  by  his  employers.  He  needed  money. 

"Let  me  see  the  papers,"  he  said,  "I  guess  I  can 
do  it." 

Hicks  gave  him  the  papers,  which  Gudger  no- 


92  THE    FAKERS 

ticed  were  the  only  papers  in  sight  in  the  office. 
Tommie  realized  that,  too,  and  instantly  resolved  to 
fix  up  bundles  of  legal  looking  documents  for  place 
on  his  desk.  Also,  he  resolved  to  buy  a  file  case, 
and  put  it  in  the  room. 

"I'll  look  them  over,"  said  Gudger,  "and  let  you 
know  later." 

Hicks  visited  Rollins  several  times,  talked  poli 
tics  with  him  and  reported  progress,  wrote  several 
letters  to  Senator  Paxton  and  spent  a  good  deal  of 
his  time  in  the  Metropolis  Hotel,  getting  acquainted 
with  the  business  and  professional  men  of  the  city 
who  used  the  lobby  and  barroom  and  cafe  of  the 
Metropolis  as  a  sort  of  a  downtown  club.  He  found 
that  the  men  who  frequented  the  hotel,  and  they 
were  most  of  the  important  men  of  the  city,  drank 
a  good  deal  of  whiskey,  especially  between  five  and 
six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Tommie  was  not  an 
abstainer,  nor  was  he  a  steady  drinker.  He  kept 
a  little  whiskey  in  his  room  for  such  use  as  was 
needful,  and  while  he  smoked  cigarettes  he  never 
smoked  on  the  streets  nor  in  public  places.  He  re 
fused  invitations  to  drink  rather  impressively,  but 
was  enough  of  a  mixer  to  keep  in  the  good  graces  of 
the  crowd,  nevertheless,  and  made  many  acquaint 
ances  who  liked  to  hear  him  discuss  affairs  at  Wash 
ington,  and  wondered  at  his  easy  familiarity  with 
the  great  men  of  whom  they  read  every  day.  Hicks 
knew  them  all  and  gossiped  about  them  intimately, 
never  failing  to  bring  himself  into  the  foreground  of 
whatever  picture  he  was  painting.  Between  times 
he  considered  the  question  of  a  church  connection. 

After  a  week's  study  Gudger  came  in  with  a 
package  of  papers  in  his  hand.  "I  have  examined 
that  Rollins-Barkiss  matter,  Mr.  Hicks,"  he  said. 

Tommie  was  writing  a  letter.  He  looked  up  and 
said  pompously:  "Excuse  me  a  moment,  if  you 


THE    FAKERS  93 

please,  Mr.  Gudger.  I  have  a  matter  here  I  must 
close  up." 

Gudger,  who  had  himself  in  hand  again,  smiled 
a  flickering  sort  of  a  smile  and  sat  down.  Tom- 
mie  wrote  vigorously  for  a  minute  or  two.  Then 
he  signed  his  name  with  a  flourish,  held  the  letter 
up  before  him  and  read  it  with  evident  admiration, 
and  turned  to  Gudger:  "My  stenographer,"  he 
said,  "is  ill  this  morning  and  I  am  compelled  to 
write  a  few  of  my  most  pressing  letters  by  hand. 
I  am  sorry  I  detained  you,  but  this  is  a  most  im 
portant  matter." 

Gudger  observed  Tommie  laid  the  letter  aside 
without  putting  it  in  an  envelope.  "Take  your 
time,  Mr.  Hicks,"  he  said,  "I  am  in  no  hurry." 

"Ah,"  continued  Tommie,  turning  in  his  chair, 
"did  I  understand  you  to  say  you  have  examined 
into  that  Rollins  claim,  Mr.  Gudger." 

"I  have." 

"Sorry  to  have  imposed  so  trifling  a  matter  on 
you,  but  I  am  exceedingly  busy.  What  do  you  find?" 

"I  find  Rollins  has  a  fair  case.  Barkiss  owes  him 
some  money  but  it  isn't  clear  just  how  much.  I 
have  set  forth  the  law  on  the  point,  have  briefed 
the  cases  that  apply  and  made  a  statement  of  the 
facts  for  you.  I  trust  it  will  be  satisfactory." 

Gudger  was  pathetically  eager.  He  needed  the 
money  Hicks  promised  him. 

"Excellent,  my  good  Gudger,"  patronized  Hicks, 
"excellent.  I  shall  look  over  the  papers  and  re 
imburse  you  for  your  time  and  trouble." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Hicks,  thank  you."  And  Gud 
ger  went  out. 

Tommie  shut  and  locked  his  door  and  read  the 
papers  carefully.  Gudger,  good  lawyer  that  he 
was  and  skilled  in  the  preparation  of  cases,  had 
handled  this  in  a  most  competent  manner.  He  had 


94  THE    FAKERS 

made  his  statement  of  facts,  his  statement  of  the 
contentions  of  the  other  side,  and  he  cited  the  laws 
to  uphold  his  own  conclusions,  cited  it  voluminously. 
It  was  an  orderly,  complete  and  precise  presenta 
tion  of  the  Rollins  side  of  the  controversy.  Tom- 
mie  spent  all  that  day  in  studying  Gudger's  work. 
He  had  a  retentive  memory  and  he  learned  what 
Gudger  had  written  so  he  could  recite  it.  Thus  for 
tified,  he  sat  back  to  consider  what  he  should  do. 
He  didn't  dare  to  go  into  court,  nor  did  he  want 
to  have  Gudger  appear  for  him.  Beyond  the  words 
Gudger  had  written  Hicks  had  no  knowledge  of 
the  law  or  the  procedure  necessary. 

After  thinking  a  time,  he  went  down  the  street 
to  see  his  friend  Charley  Bignall,  the  reporter  on 
the  Globe. 

"Bignall,"  he  asked,  "do  you  know  James  K. 
Chittlings,  the  lawyer?" 

"Sure." 

"What  kind  of  a  man  is  he?" 

"He's  a  big,  beefy  bluffer  and  gets  away  with  it. 
He  shysters  along  pretty  successfully.  He  pretends 
to  be  a  lawyer,  and  he  doesn't  know  any  too  much 
law.  When  he  tries  a  case  he  depends  on  noise  to 
pull  him  through.  He  doesn't  go  into  court  much, 
though.  That  would  show  him  up.  He's  the  grand 
est  compromiser  we  have.  WThy?" 

"Oh,  nothing  in  particular.  He's  the  attorney 
on  the  other  side  of  a  case  I  am  interested  in  and 
I  would  like  to  know  about  him,  that's  all. 


CHAPTER   XII 

AS   Hicks   walked  back   to   his   office   that 
word  "compromiser"  constantly  recurred 
to    him.      Why    not    compromise    this? 
Evidently,  from  what  Bignall  told  him, 
Chittlings  was  much  the  same  sort  of  a 
lawyer  he  was,  with  more  experience,  perhaps,  but 
with  as  little  law.     lie  knew  Chittlings  spent  a  good 
deal  of  time  in  the  lobby  of  the  Metropolis  Hotel, 
and  he  went  there  and  looked  around.     Chittlings 
was  leaning  against  the  cigar-case  and  loudly  telling 
the  bored  cigar  clerk  of  a  recent  exploit  of  his  when 
he  got  the  better  of  a  lawyer  from  the   adjoining 
county  on  a  will  case. 

Hicks  approached  the  cigar  cases  by  easy  stages, 
stopping  at  the  desk  to  look  at  the  register,  at  the 
news  stand  to  glance  at  the  display  of  periodicals, 
and  at  the  telephone  desk  to  say  a  word  or  two 
to  the  operator.  He  stood  and  listened  to  the  last 
part  of  the  recital  of  Chittlings,  laughed  when 
laughing  time  came,  and  exclaimed:  "That's  a  good 
one,"  with  evident  appreciation  as  Chittlings  fin 
ished.  Chittlings  was  pleased.  He  said  a  word  or 
two  about  the  weather  and  asked:  "Stranger 
here?" 

"Oh,  no,"  answered  Hicks,  "oh,  no,  I  am  T. 
Marmaduke  Hicks,  lawyer,  with  offices  in  the  Bland- 
ing  Block." 

"Glad  to  know  you,  Mr.  Hicks.  I'm  James  K. 
Chittlings,  and  I'm  a  lawyer  too." 

95 


96  THE    FAKERS 

"Chittlings?"  repeated  Hicks,  in  pleased  astonish 
ment.  "James  K.  Chittlings?  Why,  I  certainly  am 
glad  to  meet  you.  I  have  a  case,  I  think,  in  which 
you  are  my  opponent,  and  I  am  charmed  to  know 
I  shall  meet  so  cultured  a  gentleman  and  so  learned 
a  lawyer  in  the  arena  of  the  courts." 

"What  case  is  that?"  asked  Chittlings.  "I  don't 
recall  your  connection  with  any  of  my  cases." 

"Rollins  vs.  Barkiss." 

"Oh,  that!  Is  Rollins  at  that  again?"  exclaimed 
Chittlings,  contemptuously.  "That  isn't  a  case.  It's 
merely  a  cat-hop." 

"There  are  some  eleven  thousand  dollars  in 
volved,"  Hicks  protested  with  some  warmth. 

Chittlings  looked  at  Hicks  narrowly.  Evidently, 
an  eleven  thousand  dollar  case  was  important  in 
the  mind  of  this  young  man. 

"Look  here,"  he  warned.  "You  are  on  a  dead 
card  in  that  claim,  my  friend.  You  can't  collect  it, 
and  you  know  you  can't." 

"I  think  it  would  be  well  to  leave  that  phase  of 
the  matter  to  the  adjudication  of  the  Courts." 

"Do  you  mean  to  say  you  have  the  nerve  to  take 
that  claim  into  court?" 

"You  will  be  served  with  due  and  formal  notice 
of  my  intention  at  the  proper  time." 

"You  don't  say!  Well,  so  long.  By  the  way," 
he  added  as  he  turned  to  go,  "where's  your  office?" 

"In  the  Blanding  Block." 

"I  may  drop  in  to  see  you  some  day.  Good-by. 
Glad  to  have  met  you." 

Two  days  later  Chittlings  came  in,  glanced 
around  the  little  room,  with  its  sparse  furnishings 
and  its  array  of  the  revised  statutes  of  New  York, 
smiled,  and  said:  "Howdy,  Hicks.  How's  busi 
ness?" 

"My  docket  is  reasonably  well  filled." 


THE    FAKERS  97 

"Glad  to  know  it.  There  are  so  many  lawyers 
in  this  burg  it's  hard  for  a  new  one  to  get  a  toe 
hold.  They're  wolves  for  business,  and  they've  got 
most  of  it  cinched." 

"I  haven't  found  it  so,"  Tommie  replied,  wish 
ing  he  had  a  greater  number  of  legal-looking  docu 
ments  on  his  desk  and  resolving  to  get  some  more 
as  soon  as  Chittlings  went  out. 

"Say,  Hicks,"  said  Chittlings,  seating  himself 
and  lighting  a  cigar,  "how  strong  are  you  with  Perk 
Rollins?  Have  a  smoke?" 

"I  never  smoke." 

"Well,  forgetting  that,  how  strong  are  you  with 
Perk  Rollins?" 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"How  much  influence  have  you  with  him?" 

"He  is  one  of  my  best  clients." 

"Well,  if  that's  the  case,  and  you  can  work  him, 
what's  the  use  of  dragging  this  thing  through  the 
courts?  Why  not  compromise?" 

Tommie  straightened  in  his  chair.  "This  is  a  case 
that  does  not  admit  of  compromise,"  he  said  with 
much  dignity. 

"The  hell  it  don't!  Let  me  tell  you,  my  young 
and  callow  friend,  there  never  was  a  case  that  didn't 
admit  of  compromise,  when  the  lawyers  who  had  it 
wanted  to  fix  it  that  way,  and  there  was  anything 
in  it." 

"I  do  not  so  understand  the  theory  of  the  law." 
Hicks  was  most  important  as  he  said  this. 

"Well,  you  will  so  understand  it  if  you  want  to 
make  a  living  at  it.  I  tell  you  it's  nonsense  to  drag 
this  thing  through  the  courts,  when  there  are  bigger 
things  we  might  be  doing.  Let's  fix  it  up." 

"My  client  has  instructed  me  to  sue  it." 

"Then  get  him  to  uninstruct  you.  Rollins  is  a 
good  old  chap,  but  visionary,  and  Barkiss  ain't 


98  THE    FAKERS 

worth  a  hoot,  beyond  a  certain  point,  for  any  law 
yer  to  fuss  with.  Let's  fix  it." 

"What  do  you  propose?" 

"Why  both  of  these  litigants  have  some  right  on 
their  sides.  Barkiss  owes  Rollins  some  money,  but 
not  as  much  as  Rollins  says  he  does.  I'll  admit  the 
first  part  of  it.  If  we  take  it  into  court  you  can't 
get  the  eleven  thousand  to  save  your  soul,  but  you 
can  get  a  judgment  for  a  certain  amount,  if  you  are 
any  good  at  the  law  at  all." 

"How  much?"  asked  Tommie  eagerly. 

Chittlings  laughed.  "That's  for  you  to  find  out 
if  you  go  to  law  about  it,"  he  said. 

"Well,  what's  your  proposition?"  Tommie  gave 
what  he  thought  was  a  good  imitation  of  a  business 
like  question. 

"You  go  down  and  see  Rollins  and  find  out  the 
lowest  sum  he  will  take  to  call  things  square.  I'll 
see  my  man  and  find  out  how  much  I  can  get  him  to 
give.  Then  we'll  meet  and  fix  it  up." 

"Fix  it  up?"  asked  Hicks.  "I  don't  understand. 
I  am  a  lawyer,  Mr.  Chittlings,  and  bound  by  the 
ethics  of  my  profession." 

"Also  I  take  it,"  said  Chittlings,  sharply,  "you 
are  bound  by  the  necessities  of  making  a  living. 
Run  along,  now,  and  see  Rollins  and  come  down 
to  my  office  on  the  third  floor."  Chittlings.  went 
out,  leaving  Hicks  panting  with  indignation. 

He  grew  calm  as  he  thought  the  matter  over. 
He  knew,  in  his  heart,  he  would  be  at  a  serious  dis 
advantage  in  court,  having  had  no  practice  save  a 
little  in  justices'  courts  back  home,  when  he  was  a 
student.  His  egotism  urged  him  to  go  ahead  with 
the  case,  and  told  him  he  could  win  it  brilliantly, 
but  there  were  inward  misgivings.  Occasionally,  he 
admitted  his  limitations  to  himself;  not  often,  but 
once  in  a  while.  He  was  frightened  at  the  prospect 


THE    FAKERS  99 

of  trying  a  case  against  this  big  noisy,  bluffing  law 
yer,  and  although  he  had  Gudger's  word  for  it  that 
he  had  some  law  and  some  facts  on  his  side,  he 
didn't  relish  the  encounter.  He  wanted  to  be  surer 
of  himself  when  he  made  his  first  public  appear 
ance.  Besides,  there  might  be  merit  in  the  conten 
tion  of  Barkiss  that  he  didn't  owe  Rollins  all  of 
eleven  thousand  dollars.  There  was  that  side  of 
it  to  consider.  Also,  there  would  be  a  quicker  fee, 
in  addition  to  the  retainer  of  one  hundred  dollars 
he  already  had,  if  a  compromise  was  effected.  And 
lawyers  did  compromise  cases.  He  knew  that. 

So  he  went  to  see  Rollins,  who  greeted  him  cor 
dially  and  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  Senator  Al- 
drich's  iniquitous  tariff  policy. 

"Inexcusable,"  Hicks  replied,  not  knowing  what 
the  policy  was.  "I  dropped  in  to  see  you  about 
that  Barkiss  matter." 

"What  about  it?"  asked  Rollins,  who  was  deep 
in  a  platform  for  the  state  Democracy  he  intended 
to  propose  at  the  forthcoming  convention. 

"Why,  I  was  thinking  I  might  compose  that  dif 
ficulty  by  a  shorter  route  than  recourse  to  the  tedious 
processes  of  the  courts." 

"All  right,"  Rollins  answered  absently.  "Do 
whatever  is  best.  Say,  do  you  think  the  platform 
should  begin  with  a  ringing  denunciation  of  the 
Republican  party  or  with  a  statement  of  the  atti 
tude  of  the  Democracy  toward  the  oppression  of 
the  people,  and  then  the  arraignment  of  the  Repub 
licans?" 

"Take  up  the  cause  of  the  people  first,  by  all 
means,"  advised  Hicks.  "Suppose  I  could  get  you 
eighty-five  hundred  dollars  from  Barkiss." 

"Pshaw,  they'd  never  stand  for  eighty-five  hun 
dred  words.  That's  entirely  too  long.  My  idea  is 
about  five  thousand  words." 


ioo  THE    FAKERS 

"Dollars,  I  meant:  not  words,  Mr.  Rollins.  I 
am  speaking  about  the  Barkiss  matter." 

"The  Barkiss  matter?     Oh,  yes;  what  about  it?" 

"I  think  we  can  compromise  for  a  substantial 
sum." 

"All  right;  go  ahead.  Don't  bother  me  about 
that  now.  I  want  to  get  this  pronouncement  of 
political  principles  written.  Listen  to  this  anti-cor 
poration  plank." 

Hicks  listened  politely  while  Rollins  read  what 
he  had  written  as  establishing  the  attitude  of  his 
party  toward  the  monopolies  fostered  and  owned  by 
the  criminal  rich. 

"That'll  make  them  cringe,  I'll  bet,"  said  Rollins. 

"Undoubtedly,"  assented  Hicks  warmly.  "It  is 
a  great  summing-up  of  the  tenets  of  our  party  in 
that  regard — simply  great.  If  I  can  get  eight  thou 
sand  dollars  shall  I  take  it?" 

"Oh,  yes — yes.  Don't  bother  me,"  protested  Rol 
lins,  "let's  go  over  this  tariff  plank.  The  curse  of 
this  country  and  the  workingmen  is  high  protection. 
Let  me  read  you  what  I  have  written." 

And  he  read  his  tariff  plank,  which  demanded  an 
instant  and  scientific  revision  of  the  tariff,  along  the 
lines  of  tariff  for  revenue  only. 

As  he  finished  Tommie  applauded.  "That's  fine," 
he  cheered.  "That's  the  most  statesmanlike  argu 
ment  I  have  ever  heard.  You  certainly  are  a  mas 
ter  of  words,  Mr.  Rollins.  I  am  quite  sure  I  can 
get  seventy-five  hundred  dollars  for  you.  Shall  I 
take  it?" 

"Eh,"  said  Rollins,  blinking  his  eyes.  "I  thought 
you  said  eight  thousand." 

"Oh,"  Tommie  suavely  replied,  "I  said  eight 
thousand  tentatively.  Seventy-five  hundred  is  a  sure 
thing." 

"Well,  get  what  you  can.     I've  got  to  finish  this 


THE    FAKERS  101 

platform,  and  have  it  printed.  Get  what  you  can. 
Good-day.  Come  in  to-morrow  and  I'll  read  it  to 
you  again." 

"That  will  give  me  great  pleasure.  Seventy-five 
hundred  it  is,  then." 

"Yes — yes,"  Rollins  replied,  impatiently.  "I'm 
going  to  give  them  a  great  blast  on  the  currency 
question — a  great  blast." 


H 


CHAPTER    XIII 

ICKS  called  at  the  office  of  Chittlings 
next  day.  That  exponent  of  the  law 
had  a  suite  of  three  rooms — a  recep 
tion  room  with  an  office  boy  at  a  desk, 
a  second  room  where  there  were  a 
clerk  and  a  typewriter  and  an  array  of  law  books, 
more  than  Hicks  had  ever  seen  outside  of  a  law 
library,  and  an  inner  room  where  Chittlings  sat,  at 
a  big  roll-top  desk.  This  room  was  well  furnished. 
There  were  some  leather  chairs,  a  polished  table 
piled  high  with  papers  bound  with  tape,  a  picture  or 
two  on  the  wall,  and  a  leather  lounge. 

"Morning,  Hicks,"  greeted  Chittlings,  after 
Hicks  had  gone  through  the  formality  of  sending 
in  his  name  by  the  office  boy — Tommie  resolved  to 
have  two  rooms  and  an  office  boy — it  gave  an  air 
of  business  and  prosperity  to  a  place — "morning. 
Have  a  cigar.  Oh,  I  forgot.  You  don't  smoke. 
How  are  things?" 

"I  am  very  well,  thank  you,"  Hicks  replied. 
"Seen  Rollins?" 

"Yes;  have  you  seen  Barkiss?" 
"Saw  him  yesterday.     What  will  you  accept?" 
"What  will  you  give?" 

"Oh,   let's   not   haggle   about  this.      It  isn't   big 
enough.     I'll  give  eighty-five  hundred  dollars." 
"I'll  take  nine  thousand." 

"Come  off;  I've  got  to  get  something  for  my- 
102 


THE    FAKERS  103 

self.  Take  it  or  leave  it  at  eighty-five,  and  I'll  get 
my  bit  from  Barkiss  and  a  split  from  you." 

UA  split?" 

"Yes,  a  split.  You  know  what  a  split  is,  I  sup 
pose.  If  you  don't  let  me  tell  you  that  a  split  is 
the  greatest  discourager  of  long-fought  litigation  in 
court  this  world  has  ever  known." 

"Do  you  mean  that  you  want  me  to  divide  some 
thing  with  you?" 

"Certainly;  why  not?  You  didn't  tell  Rollins  you 
could  get  eighty-five  hundred  dollars,  did  you;  didn't 
name  a  special  sum?" 

Chittlings  looked  narrowly  at  Hicks,  who  felt  a 
sudden  feeling  that  this  big,  boisterous  man  had 
caught  him  in  a  crime.  He  was  chagrined  and  hu 
miliated,  for  although  he  had  underestimated  to  Rol 
lins  the  sum  of  money  he  thought  he  could  get  in 
compromise,  he  hadn't  gone  so  far  with  the  matter, 
in  his  own  mind,  as  actually  to  plan  to  give  Rollins 
less  in  settlement  than  he  received. 

Hicks  was  horrified.  It  seemed  to  him  that  Chit 
tlings  had  read  his  mind,  had  interpreted  his  action, 
had  literally  detected  him  stealing  something.  He 
was  familiar,  in  a  way,  with  illegal  money  transac 
tions  and  had  heard  stories  of  sums  paid  in  Wash 
ington  to  expedite  or  retard  legislation.  The  mor 
als  of  the  situation  did  not  bother  him  so  much  as 
his  apparent  detection  by  Chittlings. 

He  looked  at  Chittlings,  who  was  preparing  to 
write  a  check.  Hicks  caught  hold  of  the  arms  of 
his  chair,  steadied  himself,  licked  his  dry  lips  with 
his  tongue,  and  replied  huskily:  "Of  course,  I  men 
tioned  no  specific  sum,  but  what  difference  does  that 
make  to  you?" 

"Just  this  difference,"  said  Chittlings,  "if  I  com 
promise  this  thing  with  you  for  eighty-five  hundred 
dollars,  which  is  a  fair  compromise,  I'll  give  you  a 


104  THE    FAKERS 

check  for  that  amount  and  you'll  give  me  a  check 
for  five  hundred.  Then  you  can  deposit  my  check 
and  pay  Rollins  seventy-five  hundred  dollars  or  what 
you  please,  and  we'll  both  have  made  some  money, 
for  you  can  bet  Barkiss  will  pay  me  eighty-five  hun 
dred  back,  and  another  legal  difficulty  will  have  been 
compromised  without  recourse  to  the  tedious  proc 
esses  of  the  courts." 

Hicks  rose.  "Look  here,  Chittlings,"  he  ex 
claimed,  "I  may  not  know  much  about  the  law,  but 
I  know  something  about  the  Eighth  Command 
ment.  That's  plain  larceny,  and  you  know  it,  and 
I'll  not  be  a  party  to  it." 

Chittlings  grinned.  "All  right,"  he  said,  closing 
the  check  book,  "have  it  your  own  way.  Only  let 
me  tell  you  something:  You'll  never  make  five  hun 
dred  any  easier.  Go  ahead  and  sue,  and  I'll  be 
right  on  deck." 

"That  may  be  so,"  Hicks  retorted  emphatically, 
for  he  had  regained  his  self-possession,  "but  I  won't 
begin  my  career  as  a  lawyer  in  this  city  by  stealing 
five  hundred  dollars  from  Rollins,  or  any  other  man. 
My  price  is  higher  than  that,  Mr.  Chittlings,  and 
when  you  get  ready  to  talk  business  to  me  on  a  strict 
business  basis,  without  any  larcenous  trimmings, 
I'll  see  you  in  my  office.  Here  is  my  card." 

Chittlings  laughed.  "I  admire  your  principles," 
he  said,  "but  damn  your  judgment.  Good  day." 

Hicks  went  unsteadily  down  to  his  office.  He  sat 
for  an  hour  wondering  why  he  had  juggled  the 
amounts  with  Rollins  as  he  did,  and  could  give  him 
self  no  reasonable  nor  rational  explanation.  It 
seemed  to  him  that  Chittlings  had  gone  into  the 
very  inner  recesses  of  his  mind  and  dragged  out 
the  knowledge  of  some  subconscious  impulse  he 
had.  He  couldn't  understand  it,  and  he  was  abashed 
and  ashamed. 


THE    FAKERS  105 

He  saw  Rollins  several  times  during  the  next 
fortnight  and  talked  politics.  That  fervid  Demo 
crat,  immersed  in  his  writings  and  his  organization 
work,  did  not  refer  to  the  Barkiss  claim,  nor  did 
Hicks.  He  devoted  himself  to  discussion  of  the 
principles  of  Democracy,  and  to  inquiry  into  the 
chances  of  a  new  member  of  the  party  for  getting 
a  nomination.  He  didn't  put  it  exactly  that  way,  for 
he  did  not  want  Rollins  to  think  he  had  an  ulterior 
motive  for  his  inquiries.  He  approached  the  sub 
ject  from  various  angles,  asking  about  former  cam 
paigns  and  the  men  who  had  been  named  for  the 
offices.  Nominations,  he  found,  went  begging.  It 
was  hard  work  to  fill  the  ticket. 

"I'll  put  you  on  for  something  next  election,  if 
you  like,"  promised  Rollins. 

"Oh,"  protested  Hicks,  "that  would  be  too  pre 
sumptuous  on  my  part.  I  couldn't  think  of  it." 

"It'll  be  all  right,"  assured  Rollins.  "I  can  guar 
antee  that.  I  had  a  run  for  every  office  in  this  part 
of  the  state,  from  dog  catcher  to  State  Senator  and 
Member  of  Congress,  just  to  make  the  ticket  whole. 
I'll  fix  it,  all  right.  It  won't  be  any  trouble.  We'll 
be  glad  to  have  new  blood.  Of  course,"  he  added, 
"you  won't  be  elected  to  anything,  so  it  won't  inter 
fere  with  your  work." 

Tommie  didn't  like  that,  but  he  remembered  what 
Senator  Paxton  told  him,  and  decided  to  play  the 
waiting  game.  It  had  become  known  he  was  a 
Democrat.  The  banker,  Pendleton,  spoke  to  him 
about  it  one  day. 

"I  hear  you're  a  Democrat,"  he  said. 

"I  am;  a  Jeffersonian-Jacksonian  Democrat," 
Hicks  replied,  with  much  fervor. 

"What's  the  object?"  asked  Pendleton. 

"The  object?     I  don't  understand  you." 

"I  mean  what's  the  joker  in  it?     How  comes  it 


io6  THE    FAKERS 

that  a  young  man  lights  in  this  Republican  commu 
nity  and  begins  the  practice  of  law  and  affiliates  with 
the  Democratic  party,  than  which  there  is  no  slim 
mer,  more  hopeless  political  outfit  in  this  Union? 
Why  not  be  a  Republican?" 

"Mr.  Pendleton,"  Hicks  replied,  with  a  pained 
note  in  his  voice,  "I  have  faith  in  Democratic  prin 
ciples.  How  could  I  bring  myself  to  abandon  those 
principles  for  a  mere  temporary  advantage  to  my 
self?  Principles  are  higher  than  men,  Mr.  Pen 
dleton,  higher  than  aught  else,  to  my  thinking.  I 
am  a  Democrat  because  I  believe  in  the  tenets  of 
Democracy,  and  for  no  other  purpose  and  with  no 
other  motive." 

"Excuse  me,"  begged  Pendleton  gravely.  "I 
didn't  know  but  you  might  have  political  ambitions. 
Most  young  lawyers  have,  you  know." 

"My  only  ambition,"  spouted  Hicks,  "is  to  serve 
my  country  and  my  party  humbly  fighting  in  the 
ranks  to  correct  the  great  abuses  the  present  mal 
administration  of  Government  affairs  has  fastened 
upon  us." 

"I  think,"  said  Tommie  to  himself,  as  Pendle 
ton  left  him,  "that  will  hold  him  for  a  while." 

Hicks  sensed  difficulties,  nevertheless.  He  knew 
the  big  business  interests  of  the  city  and  county,  the 
interests  that  provided  the  bulk  of  the  law  work, 
were  solidly  Republican.  So,  too,  were  the  banks, 
with  the  exception  of  one,  a  state  bank,  in  which 
Rollins  was  interested.  He  had  thought  he  de 
tected  antagonism  to  his  Democracy  once  or  twice, 
when  talking  to  business  men,  and  he  soon  discov 
ered  that  in  communities  like  Rextown  men  take 
their  politics  seriously,  and  are  partisan  even  to  the 
distribution  of  their  business  favors,  although  ex 
ceedingly  non-partisan  when  there  is  anything  in  it 
for  themselves.  He  considered  this  end  of  it  care- 


THE    FAKERS  107 

fully  and  wrote  about  it  to  Senator  Paxton,  who 
told  him  to  hang  on  and  not  be  discouraged. 

Hicks  secured  some  minor  cases,  of  one  kind 
and  another,  and  established  a  considerable  collec 
tion  business.  He  had  an  insistent  way  of  approach 
ing  delinquents,  and  a  still  more  insistent  manner 
of  letter  writing,  and  he  had  some  success  with  the 
dead-beats  of  Rextown  and  the  surrounding  coun 
try.  He  bought  a  second-hand  typewriter,  and 
wrote  his  letters  on  that,  and,  invariably,  put  at  the 
bottom  "H — HML"  which  conveyed  the  impres 
sion  he  had  dictated  the  letter  to  a  stenographer 
whose  initials  were  "H.  M.  L."  Sometimes,  when 
he  wanted  to  simulate  a  great  press  of  business,  he 
wrote  at  the  bottom  of  his  letters:  "Dictated  but 
not  read  by  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,"  and  signed  the 
useful  initials  "H.  M.  L."  to  these  announcements. 
He  saw  that  on  a  letter  he  received,  and  it  made 
a  great  impression  on  him.  So  he  used  it  whenever 
he  thought  it  would  have  effect,  coming  from  him. 

He  went  to  church  regularly,  was  impeccable  in 
his  conduct  and  unremitting  in  his  efforts  to  make 
the  acquaintance  of  men  he  thought  might  be  of 
use  to  him.  He  was  insensible  to  rebuff.  If  any 
man  of  standing  ever  deigned  to  notice  him  that 
man  never  thereafter  could  escape  an  effusive  greet 
ing  from  Hicks  whenever  they  met,  coupled  with  so 
licitous  inquiries  after  himself  and  family,  and  as 
much  conversation  as  he  would  listen  to,  on  any 
topic  Tommie  could  introduce.  If  a  man  of  affairs 
went  so  far  as  to  greet  Hicks  first,  even  if  only  to 
say  "Good  morning,  Mr.  Hicks,"  that  made  that 
man  the  friend  of  Hicks,  from  the  Hicks  side,  for 
ever  after.  He  always  referred  to  men  who  had 
encouraged  him  thus  as  "my  dear  friend  so-and-so" 
and  quoted  him,  in  his  own  words,  when  they  were 
not  present. 


io8  THE    FAKERS 

He  joined  the  Good  Government  Association,  the 
Municipal  League,  the  Civic  Purity  Society,  and  one 
or  two  general  literary  and  culture  clubs.  Twice  he 
read  papers  at  general  meetings  of  the  Associated 
Charities,  papers  he  had  carefully  paraphrased 
from  chapters  in  a  book  he  had  found  containing 
a  report  of  a  national  convention  of  these  organi 
zations,  and  these  papers  had  been  quoted,  briefly, 
in  the  local  papers.  He  had  cribbed  from  his  ma 
terial  skilfully,  and  was  hailed  as  a  young  man  who 
had  high  ideals.  He  debated  joining  various  fra 
ternal  organizations,  and  decided  to  hold  that  in 
abeyance  until  he  saw  what  effect  such  affiliations 
might  have  on  his  political  ambitions.  He  wasn't 
sure  about  this,  and  gave  the  matter  considerable 
study. 

Meantime,  he  had  toned  down  his  attire  to  some 
extent,  except  the  flowing  tie.  He  clung  to  that,  and 
never,  by  any  chance,  allowed  the  barber  to  cut  off 
much  of  his  hair.  He  thought,  seriously,  of  raising 
whiskers,  but  finally  decided  he  wouldn't  as  he  was 
rather  proud  of  his  facial  lines,  and  considered  him 
self  to  have  a  serious  and  studious  look  that  whis 
kers,  possibly,  might  destroy,  although  he  realized 
fully  the  decorative  effects  that  might  be  attained 
with  a  carefully  nurtured  beard. 

He  saw  Rollins  frequently.  That  amiable  pa 
triot  was  deep  in  a  controversy  with  Colonel  Cicero 
Collins,  a  former  Representative  in  Congress,  who 
had  nothing  to  do  but  try  to  make  people  remember 
he  had  once  been  a  statesman  in  Washington.  Ma 
terial  matters  did  not  bother  Rollins  much,  although 
there  were  periods  when  he  regularly  visited  the 
bank  in  which  he  was  interested  and  dipped  into  its 
affairs.  Rollins  and  Hicks  talked  of  the  fundamen 
tal  principles  of  Democracy.  Tommie  had  acquired 
a  vocabulary  of  Democratic  expressions  that  helped 


THE    FAKERS  109 

him  amazingly,  and  he  kept  Rollins  in  a  perpetual 
state  of  exaltation  by  skillful  flattery.  He  had  be 
come  acquainted  with,  and  had  cultivated,  half  a 
dozen  other  Democrats  who  were  of  consequence  in 
the  city,  and  he  was  soon  taken  into  the  inner  coun 
cils  of  that  flimsy  organization,  and  consulted  about 
contemplated  action,  and  proper  policies.  Most  of 
the  men  with  whom  he  talked,  aside  from  these 
Democrats,  couldn't  understand  why  a  young  law 
yer,  interested  in  politics,  should  ally  himself  with 
the  Democracy  in  a  city  like  Rextown,  but  Tommie 
held  his  pose  steadily,  and  asserted  his  adherence  to 
that  faith,  putting  forward  on  every  suitable  occa 
sion  his  utter  lack  of  personal  political  ambition 
and  his  intense  desire  to  do  something  for  the  com 
mon  people. 

He  read  the  reports  of  the  debates  in  Congress 
after  that  body  went  into  session,  having  asked  the 
local  Representative  to  send  him  a  copy  of  the  Con 
gressional  Record.  He  had  a  quick  and  retentive 
mind  and  it  wasn't  long  until  he  could  make  a  fair 
Democratic  speech.  It  was  his  custom  to  harangue 
his  Democratic  friends  at  their  gatherings  in  the 
office  of  Rollins,  as  long  as  they  wrould  listen.  Rol 
lins,  who  dearly  loved  that  sort  of  thing,  encouraged 
him,  while  the  others  heard  him  because  Rollins 
urged  them  to.  Tommie  gained  practice  in  political 
speaking  in  this  manner.  He  took  the  Democratic 
contention  in  a  debate  at  one  of  his  literary  societies 
one  night  and,  by  using  the  patter  of  the  party,  and 
a  variety  of  high-sounding  phrases  about  the  "rule 
of  the  people"  and  other  desirable  reforms,  talked 
his  opponent  down,  and  befogged  the  judges  to 
such  an  extent  he  was  given  the  verdict.  Bignall 
printed  something  about  this  for  him,  and  gave 
him  credit  for  "a  masterly  summing  up  of  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  Democracy." 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THINGS  went  quietly  for  a  year.    He  ma 
neuvered  with  the   Rollins-Barkiss  case, 
using   Gudger  to   help   him   postpone   a 
court  trial,  wrote  voluminously  to  Sena 
tor  Paxton,  and  received  much  good  ad 
vice  from  him  and  some  congratulations  as  to  his 
progress,  which,   apparently,   satisfied  the  Senator. 

There  was  to  be  a  special  municipal  election  late 
in  April  to  fill  a  vacancy  or  two  on  the  Board  of 
Aldermen  and  to  elect  a  city  recorder  in  the  place 
of  a  Republican  who  had  died. 

"How  long  have  you  been  here,  Hicks?"  Rollins 
asked  him  one  day. 

UA  little  over  a  year." 

"Well,  you've  gained  your  residence,  then. 
Which  one  of  these  places  do  you  want?  You  can 
run  for  alderman  or  for  city  recorder." 

Tommie  hesitated. 

"Go  on,"  urged  Rollins.  "You  haven't  got  a 
chance  to  be  elected,  but  you  ought  to  do  something 
for  the  party,  something  to  show  your  loyalty." 

"All  right,"  assented  Tommie,  "I'll  run  for  re 
corder." 

Rollins  smiled.  "Picked  the  biggest  sounding 
one,  didn't  you?"  he  asked. 

"Oh,  my  dear  Mr.  Rollins,"  protested  Hicks, 
"you  must  not  view  it  in  that  light.  I  merely  said 
recorder  because  that  seemed  to  be  the  most  appro 
priate.  An  alderman,  you  know,  is  a  sort  of  a  per- 

IIO 


THE    FAKERS  in 

sonal  representative  of  his  constituents,  and  I  have 
been  here  such  a  short  time.  Of  course,  while  I 
feel  I  am  fully  capable  of  discharging  the  duties  of 
member  of  the  board  of  aldermen,  it  seemed  to 
me 

"Forgive  me,  Hicks,"  said  Rollins.  "I  was  only 
joking.  Of  course,  you  can  have  the  nomination  for 
recorder.  It's  six  of  one  and  half  a  dozen  of  the 
other." 

Tommie  was  disappointed  he  was  to  be  nominated 
by  committee  and  not  by  convention,  but  he  sent  no 
tices  to  the  papers  of  the  committee  meeting  and 
made  a  speech  of  acceptance  that  got  him  respectful 
notice  in  two  papers  and  some  good-natured  chaffing 
in  two  others.  The  contest  was  perfunctory.  No 
body  took  interest  in  it,  and  Hicks  tried  to  vitalize 
it  by  active  campaigning,  but  was  not  successful  in 
stirring  up  much  interest  either  for  himself  or  for 
the  issues  involved.  He  had  his  name  in  the  papers 
two  or  three  times  during  the  short  campaign,  and 
swore  privately,  but  laughed  publicly,  over  a  fling 
the  editor  of  the  Leader  took  at  him  as  "our  newly 
acquired  Demosthenes  whose  vocabulary  is  as 
abundant  as  his  hair  and  whose  ideas  are  as  scarce 
as  his  whiskers."  A  small  vote  was  cast  at  the 
election.  Hicks  was  snowed  under. 

"Just  a  necessary  party  sacrifice,"  soothed  Rol 
lins.  "But  you  wait.  We'll  get  them  yet.  The 
truth  is  mighty  and  must  prevail." 

Then  came  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1900. 
President  McKinley  was  renominated  at  Philadel 
phia,  and  William  Jennings  Bryan  named  again  at 
Kansas  City.  Rollins  had  been  a  delegate  to  the 
Democratic  convention,  and  returned  to  Rextown 
fired  with  enthusiasm  for  the  Peerless  Leader,  as 
he  invariably  termed  Mr.  Bryan,  and  anxious  to  or 
ganize  a  fight  in  the  district  and  get  out  every  Dem- 


ii2  THE    FAKERS 

ocratic  vote.  He  had  abandoned  the  free  silver 
idea,  as  an  issue,  but  not  as  a  principle,  and  he  was 
ardently  an  anti-imperialist  and  talked  for  hours 
to  Hicks  about  the  crimes  of  the  American  occu 
pation  of  the  Philippines  and  all  the  other  phases 
of  anti-imperialism. 

He  urged  Hicks  to  prepare  himself  to  go  on  the 
stump.  Hicks  was  entirely  willing,  and  mentioned 
his  prospective  campaigning  when  he  wrote  to  Sen 
ator  Paxton. 

Soon  afterward  he  received  this  letter  in  reply: 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  August  i,  1900. 
"My  DEAR  HICKS: 

"I  am  glad  to  learn  of  your  progress,  as  indicated  by  your 
numerous  letters,  and  I  trust  that  you  will  continue  unfalter 
ing  in  your  championing  of  both  the  welfare  of  the  people 
and  the  cause  of  the  Democracy,  in  which,  as  you  must  now 
think,  the  hope  of  the  people  lies. 

"It  seems  to  me  eminently  fitting  that  you  should  go  on 
the  stump  for  the  Democratic  candidate,  Mr.  Bryan.  While 
it  is  my  deep-rooted  conviction  that  Mr.  Bryan  will  be  no 
more  successful  this  time  than  he  was  before,  you  are  a 
Democrat,  and,  as  such,  must  be  regular  and  enthusiastic  in 
your  support  of  the  candidates. 

"You  have  had  some  small  experience  in  campaign  speak 
ing,  and  are  about  to  enter  again  on  that  phase  of  politics. 
Will  you  pardon  me  if  I  presume  to  set  down  a  few  axioms 
that  may  be  of  value  to  you  ? 

"Let  me  repeat  to  you  that  the  great  secret  of  successful 
political  speaking  is  to  tell  the  people  what  they  already 
know.  Never  venture  on  any  uncharted  oratorical  seas. 
Give  them  the  old,  familiar  stuff,  and  they  will  approve  and 
applaud,  but  if  you  try  to  tell  them  what  they  do  not  know 
they  will  view  your  efforts  with  cold  suspicion. 

"Be  conventional.  Avoid  new  expressions.  It  is  the  acme 
of  folly  to  refer  to  a  workingman  otherwise  than  as  a  horny- 
handed  son  of  toil,  and  you  live  in  a  factory  town.  If  you 
speak  of  the  flag  otherwise  than  as  the  star-spangled  banner 


THE    FAKERS  113 

you  will  be  introducing  an  innovation  that  will  be  unwelcome 
and  probably  will  react  against  your  party  on  election  day. 

"It  is  imperative  that  you  should  never  view  except  with 
alarm,  nor  point  except  with  pride.  Furthermore,  you  must 
always  assert  without  fear  of  successful  contradiction,  con 
demn  in  unmeasured  terms,  challenge  the  statement,  shy  your 
castor  in  the  ring,  issue  a  defi,  lock  horns  with,  stamp  as  un 
worthy,  measure  swords  with,  hew  to  the  line,  declare  it  is 
a  deliberate  and  malicious  falsehood,  show  neither  fear  nor 
favor,  remark  in  passing,  nail  the  lie,  have  your  attention 
called,  demand  to  see  the  books,  turn  on  the  light,  insist 
the  rascals  shall  be  turned  out,  give  an  accounting  of  your 
stewardship,  make  clear  the  issues,  express  sublime  faith  in 
the  wisdom,  patriotism  and  justness  of  the  people,  and  say 
this  is  the  greatest  Republic  on  which  the  sun  ever  shone. 

"As  you  are  a  Democrat  you  may  go  as  far  as  you  like  with 
Thomas  Jefferson.  Also,  uphold  the  Constitution,  assail  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  savagely,  lambast  the  octopi  for  hours 
and  hours,  and  assault  the  Money  Devil,  and  Wall  Street, 
arid  Lombard  Street.  It  is  always  safe  to  jump  on  the 
criminal  rich  and  never  necessary  to  name  names.  The 
broad,  generic  term,  criminal  rich,  will  answer,  and  you  can 
get  an  hour  out  of  that  topic  any  time. 

"Soak  all  trusts.  Again  it  is  unnecessary  to  name  names, 
and  you  need  not  refer  to  the  trusts  that  employ  men  in 
your  district,  and,  perchance,  may  be  contributing  to  your 
party  funds.  As  you  have  factories  in  Rextown  you  must 
be  strong  for  union  labor  and  the  right  of  workingmen. 
When  you  get  out  in  the  country  never  fail  to  call  the 
farmers  the  hardy  yeomanry  who  are  the  bulwark  and  safe 
guard  of  the  nation. 

"Always  refer  to  the  ladies — God  bless  'em — and  throw 
in  a  few  flowery  sentences  about  the  children  who  are  the 
future  guardians  of  the  safeties  of  the  Republic. 

"Chose  your  anecdotes  carefully.  Do  not  use  any  new 
ones.  Tell  the  good,  old,  time-tried  ones,  and  you  will  get 
your  laughs  at  the  proper  places.  Do  not  be  sarcastic,  for 
the  people  will  think  you  mean  what  you  say,  being  of  a 
literal  turn  of  mind. 

"Again,  the  people,  the  dear,  common  people,  are  the  most 


H4  THE    FAKERS 

fruitful  topic  in  the  world  for  political  eloquence.  They 
need  constant  attention  and  tribute.  Any  politician  who  ne 
glects  the  people  will  be  neglected  by  the  people.  They  know 
how  good  they  are — the  people  do — and  desire  to  be  told 
about  it  constantly. 

"Careful  attention  to  these  details,  unceasing  assaults  on 
the  citadels  of  privilege  and  plutocracy  as  maintained  by  the 
Republican  party,  and  long  interpretation  of  the  Democratic 
platform,  with  some  kind  words  about  the  Fathers  and  the 
dear  old  Constitution,  will  give  you  ample  material.  You 
won't  make  any  votes,  but  you  will  get  practice  that  may  be 
useful.  Advance,  Hicks,  and  make  the  welkin  ring. 

Rollins  insisted  on  paying  the  expenses  of  Hicks, 
and  Hicks  spoke  once  or  twice  a  week  at  the  smaller 
meetings  in  various  villages  and  hamlets  in  Corliss 
County.  He  was  put  on  at  several  meetings  in  Rex- 
town,  as  a  filler-in,  and  when  Mr.  Bryan  came 
through,  in  October,  met  the  candidate,  and  was 
greatly  taken  with  him  as  an  earnest  and  sincere 
man,  and  accompanied  him  on  his  special  car  for  a 
few  miles  after  he  left  Rextown.  Hicks  secretly 
felt  he  should  have  been  allowed  to  speak  at  the 
Bryan  meeting,  but  Rollins  told  him  he  must  creep 
before  he  could  walk.  Hicks  sulked  a  little,  but 
Rollins  smoothed  him  out,  and  Mr.  Bryan  helped 
him  by  asking  Hicks  to  introduce  him  at  a  five-min 
ute  stop  he  made  at  Grandsburg,  fifteen  miles  from 
Rextown,  where  he  was  scheduled  to  address  the 
crowd  from  the  end  of  his  car.  Hicks  thought  out 
a  fine  speech. 

He  stepped  proudly  forward:  "Fellow  citizens 
of  Grandsburg,"  he  began,  "in  these  days  of  Re 
publican  misrule,  in  the  midst  of  this  Republican 
debauch  of  corruption " 

Somebody  pulled  at  his  coat  tails. 

"Introduce  him,"  said  a  hoarse  voice.  "You  ain't 
making  this  speech." 


THE    FAKERS  115 

Hicks  cleared  his  throat.  "Fellow  citizens,"  he 
began  again,  "in  these  days " 

"Bryan!  Bryan!  Bryan!"  yelled  the  crowd. 
"Who  the  hell  are  you?  Bryan!  Where's  Bryan?" 

Hicks  raised  his  hand  impressively.  "Fellow  citi 
zens — 

"Bryan!  Bryan!  Bryan!"  shouted  the  impatient 
crowd. 

Mr.  Bryan  came  forward.  Hicks  saw  all  would 
be  lost  unless  he  hurried.  "Fellow  citizens,"  he 
shouted,  "I  have  the  honor  to  present  to  you  the 
Great  Commoner,  the  Peerless  Leader,  William  Jen 
nings  Bryan." 

Bryan's  secretary  shouldered  Hicks  aside  and 
Bryan  plunged  into  his  speech.  Hicks  was  much 
depressed.  He  had  hoped  to  make  a  neat  little  talk 
of  about  a  minute  and  a  half.  As  he  went  into  the 
car  he  saw  Joe  Felker,  a  Washington  correspondent 
he  knew,  who  was  traveling  with  the  party. 

"Hello,  Hicks,"  saluted  Felker.  "What  are  you 
doing  out  here?" 

"I  am  engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  law  in  Rex- 
town,"  Hicks  replied.  Felker  introduced  him  to 
the  other  correspondents  and  Hicks  took  Felker 
aside  and  said;  "Say,  Felker,  do  me  a  favor,  will 
you?" 

"Sure;  if  I  can." 

"Fix  it  with  the  other  boys  so  my  name  will  go 
in  the  despatches." 

Felker  laughed.  "All  right,  old  top,"  he  said, 
and  he  was  as  good  as  his  word.  Even  the  press 
associations  carried  the  important  information  that 
T.  Marmaduke  Hicks  introduced  Mr.  Bryan  at 
Grandsburg,  and  Hicks  was  highly  elated,  for  he 
knew  his  name  would  be  printed  in  about  all  the 
newspapers  in  the  country  that  afternoon  and  the 
next  morning. 


n6  THE    FAKERS 

Election  came,  and  Bryan's  defeat.  The  Demo 
crats  in  Rextown  and  Corliss  County  held  their  scat 
tering  own,  but  that  was  all.  Rollins  was  much  cast 
down.  He  had  hypnotized  himself  into  thinking  the 
Democrats  must  win,  but  Hicks  had  been  under  no 
such  delusion.  He  thought  they  had  done  very  well 
in  their  district. 

"Well,"  said  Rollins,  dolefully,  "we've  got  to 
take  up  the  fight  again.  Right  will  triumph  in  the 
end,  but  I  certainly  did  think  we  had  them  beaten. 
We  had  all  the  arguments  on  our  side." 

"Yes,"  Hicks  replied,  "we  seemed  to  have  every 
thing  on  our  side  but  the  votes.  However,  our 
time  will  come.  I  am  sure  of  that.  The  people 
cannot  remain  forever  blind  to  their  own  interests." 

"I  don't  know,"  mourned  Rollins,  "I  don't  know. 
Seems  to  me  as  if  the  people  of  this  country  would 
rather  see  through  a  glass  darkly  than  stand  out 
in  the  sunlight.  I  thought  we  had  them  beaten." 

"Oh,  well,"  consoled  Hicks,  "we'll  get  them  yet. 
The  people  must  and  shall  be  aroused." 

"I  reckon  so,"  said  Rollins  sadly,  as  he  started 
away,  "but  we've  got  to  get  a  bigger  alarm  clock 
than  we've  had  yet." 

Business  had  been  fairly  good  with  Hicks,  and 
he  had  not  been  obliged  to  draw  on  Senator  Pax- 
ton.  He  lived  frugally,  and  was  careful  of  his 
money.  He  decided  to  run  down  to  Washington  for 
a  couple  of  weeks,  and  wrote  to  Mrs.  Lake  to  save 
a  room  for  him.  He  arrived  in  the  Capital  late  in 
November,  planning  to  be  there  for  a  few  days  after 
Congress  began  its  regular  sessions  in  December. 
After  he  had  been  to  the  boarding  house,  where 
Mrs.  Lake  welcomed  him  effusively,  he  went  up  to 
see  the  Senator. 

"Why,  Hicks!"  shouted  Madden  as  he  entered 


THE    FAKERS  117 

the  familiar  offices,  "glad  to  see  you.  How  are  you? 
How  are  you  getting  along?" 

"Fine,"  Hicks  replied,  "I'm  the  greatest  little  up 
holder  of  the  undying,  but  somewhat  unappreciated, 
principles  of  the  Democratic  party  you  ever  saw. 
Where's  the  chief?" 

"Inside:  I'll  tell  him  you  are  here."  Madden 
went  in  and  came  out  almost  immediately.  "Go 
right  in,"  he  said.  "He's  anxious  to  have  a  talk 
with  you." 

"Hello,  Tommie,"  said  the  Senator,  "how's  the 
junior  member  of  the  firm  of  Paxton  and  Hicks, 
purveyors  of  the  uplift  to  the  toiling  masses?" 

"Couldn't  be  better,  Senator.  You  are  looking 
well,  too." 

"Yes,  Hicks,  I  feel  well,  although  the  cares  of 
the  body  politic  and  the  woes  of  the  people  oppress 
me  fearfully  at  times.  However,  I  am  cheered  up 
by  an  occasional  opportunity  to  put  over  something 
on  them.  Rather  walloped  you  this  time,  didn't 
we?" 

"We  lost,"  said  Hicks,  "if  that  is  what  you  mean, 
but  we  are  right,  and  right  will  prevail." 

"Correct,"  exclaimed  the  Senator.  "Right  will 
prevail,  but  not,  I  hope,  until  we  have  secured  all 
we  need.  Still,  it  isn't  necessary  for  you  to  main 
tain  the  pose  in  here,  you  know.  As  you  might  say, 
I  am  onto  your  curves." 

"In  that  case,"  Hicks  replied,  taking  a  chair,  "I 
am  pleased  to  inform  you  that,  so  far  as  I  can  see, 
I  am  doing  well  out  in  Rextown.  I  have  become  a 
leading  young  Democrat.  I  am  getting  some  law 
business.  I  am  establishing  myself  in  politics,  and 
I  am  never  faltering,  for  an  instant,  in  my  devotion 
to  the  people." 

"That's  right,  Hicks;  that's  right.     The  people 


n8  THE    FAKERS 

can  use  a  heap  of  devotion,  and,  conversely,  you  can 
use  the  people.  Tell  me  about  yourself." 

Hicks  sat  for  an  hour  and  detailed  his  experi 
ences.  Paxton  listened  intently,  interrupting  now 
and  then  with  a  wise  comment  or  to  make  some  in 
structive  observation.  As  Hicks  finished  and  rose 
to  go  Paxton  said: 

"That  seems  like  a  pretty  good  start  to  me.  You 
have  identified  yourself  with  the  Democracy  in  good 
shape.  You  have  acquired  a  standing.  All  you've 
got  to  do  is  to  hang  on,  to  continue  your  present 
tactics,  to  remain  steadfast  to  your  numerously  an 
nounced  principles,  and  you'll  land  all  right.  But  it 
will  take  time — it  will  take  time." 

"I  know  that,"  laughed  Hicks.  "These  great  re 
forms  cannot  be  accomplished  in  a  day.  Besides, 
what's  time  to  me,  when  the  stake  is  so  big?  I  have 
all  the  time  there  is,  you  know." 

"I  guess  you  have,  when  it  comes  to  that,  and 
all  the  essential  qualities  for  the  part  you  are  play 
ing.  By  the  way,"  he  urged,  "come  up  to  dinner 
with  me  to-night  and  we'll  have  another  talk." 

Hicks  raised  a  deprecatory  hand.  "Oh,  my  dear 
Senator,"  he  protested,  "I  couldn't  think  of  that. 
News  of  the  fact  that  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  the 
leading  young  Democrat  of  Rextown,  was  dining 
with  William  H.  Paxton,  the  unregenerate  boss  of 
the  rapacious  organization  of  the  plutocratic  United 
States  Senate,  might  get  back  home.  I  am  supposed 
to  loathe  you,  you  know,  and  all  your  fellows  with 
an  exceeding  great  loathing,  and  it  surely  would  con 
taminate  me  to  be  seen  in  your  company.  The  peo 
ple  wouldn't  understand  it,  and  would  say  I  have 
been  captured  by  the  forces  of  Mammon." 

Paxton  looked  at  Hicks  admiringly.  "By 
George,"  he  said,  "you  are  even  better  than  I 
thought.  But  come  along.  No  one  will  be  there  but 


THE    FAKERS  119 

Mrs.  Paxton  and  she  never  tells  anything.  If  she 
should  tell  all  she  knows  about  me  I'm  afraid  there 
would  be  a  forced  vacancy  in  the  Senate,  at  my  par 
ticular  desk.  Come  on.  You'll  be  perfectly  safe." 
"In  that  case,"  Hicks  replied,  shaking  hands  with 
the  Senator,  "I'll  be  there  at  seven  o'clock. 


CHAPTER   XV 

HICKS  made  a  few  visits  the  next  morn 
ing  and  decided  to  take  his  luncheon 
with  Mrs.  Lake.  As  he  neared  the 
house  he  stopped  suddenly  and  stared 
at  a  woman  who  was  coming  down  the 
walk  toward  him.  She  was  a  tall,  slender  woman, 
who  walked  with  exceeding  grace.  Her  face  was 
white,  markedly  so,  but  her  lips  were  even  more 
markedly  red.  Hicks,  knowing  little  of  women's 
dress,  still  knew  enough  to  have  it  borne  in  on  his 
startled  vision  that  she  was  exquisitely  gowned.  Her 
dress  was  of  a  silky  black  material,  and  clung  to  her 
figure  in  soft  and  shimmering  folds.  Her  hat  fitted 
perfectly  into  her  charming  costume.  It  was  black, 
too,  but  there  was  a  quilling  of  white  about  it  that 
added  to  its  chicness.  A  filmy  veil,  long  and  black, 
floated  behind  her  as  she  walked,  and  Hicks  caught  a 
glimpse  of  her  throat,  where  her  corsage  was  cut 
away,  a  jet  necklace  and  long  jet  earrings.  She  ap 
proached  Hicks  with  a  slightly  swaying  motion  of 
the  hips  that  fascinated  him. 

He  stood  stock  still,  staring  at  her.  She  came  up 
to  him,  and  still  he  stared.  She  passed  him,  appar 
ently  without  knowledge  of  his  existence,  and  he 
turned  and  followed  her  with  his  eyes  until  she  went 
around  a  corner.  Then,  as  if  he  were  coming  out 
of  a  trance,  he  said,  "Jimminy!  what  a  stunner!" 
He  walked  slowly  toward  the  house.  There  was 
something  familiar  about  the  woman,  something  that 

120 


THE    FAKERS  121 

reminded  him  of  a  woman  he  had  seen  before.  He 
had  not  been  able  to  get  more  than  a  glimpse  of 
her  face,  but  her  figure,  her  carriage,  her  general 
air  of  distinction,  of  grace,  of  modishness,  stirred 
memories  in  him. 

He  stopped  at  the  steps,  stopped  and  searched 
his  mind.  "By  George!"  he  shouted,  "it's  Mrs. 
Lester!" 

Hicks  ran  up  the  steps  and  burst  into  the  house. 
He  sought  the  landlady.  "Mrs.  Lake,"  he  asked 
excitedly,  "is  there  a  Mrs.  Lester  stopping  here?" 

"Why,  yes,"  Mrs.  Lake  replied,  amused  at 
Hicks's  eagerness,  "Mrs.  Lester  has  been  here  for 
more  than  a  year.  Do  you  know  her?" 

"No,"  Hicks  replied,  "but  I  remember  when  she 
was  here  before  I  went  to  Rextown,  and  I'd  like 
to  know  her  mighty  well." 

"I  shall  be  glad  to  present  you.  She  is  a  charm 
ing  woman;  so  cultivated.  Poor  girl,"  she  continued 
sympathetically,  "she  has  been  bereaved  since  you 
saw  her." 

"Somebody  die?"  asked  Hicks. 

"Her  husband.     She  is  a  widow." 

"A  widow,"  exclaimed  Hicks.  "Oh,  fine — I 
mean  I  am  sorry  to  hear  it." 

"He  died  soon  after  they  were  here,  suddenly.  It 
was  a  terrible  shock  to  her,  and  she  hasn't  recovered 
yet.  They  were  very  devoted.  She  returned  to 
Washington,  where  she  has  some  friends,  and  has 
been  with  us  ever  since.  Of  course,  as  she  is  in  mourn 
ing,  she  is  quite  secluded,  but  we  enjoy  her  charm 
ing  conversation  and  her  recitals  of  her  experiences 
abroad.  Why,  Mr.  Hicks,  she  positively  knows 
everybody  worth  knowing,  and  for  travel — well,  she 
has  been  just  everywhere,  and  she  speaks  several 
languages.  Really,  you  would  take  her  for  a 
Frenchwoman." 


122  THE    FAKERS 

"I  noticed  she  wore  black,"  said  Hicks,  as  if  that 
were  an  achievement  on  his  part. 

"Yes,"  continued  Mrs.  Lake,  "and  I  must  say 
she  is  the  most  perfectly  appointed  and  most  hand 
somely  gowned  widow  I  ever  saw.  She  looks  just 
too  fetching  for  anything  in  her  weeds." 

It  was  Friday,  and  that  night,  as  was  the  cus 
tom,  everybody  dressed  for  dinner.  Hicks  had  his 
.evening  clothes  with  him,  which  he  had  not  used 
much  in  Rextown.  Fie  shaved  with  exceeding  care, 
brushed  his  hair  until  it  shone,  and  spent  half  an 
hour  polishing  his  nails  and  pumicing  his  hands. 
At  half  after  six  he  gave  his  hair  a  few  more  pats, 
sprinkled  a  little  perfume  on  himself,  put  some  on 
the  palms  of  his  hands,  gave  a  final  admiring  glance 
at  himself  in  his  mirror,  and  went  downstairs. 

Most  of  the  boarders  were  there,  but  not  Mrs. 
Lester.  Disappointed,  Hicks  wandered  uneasily 
about,  examining  the  pictures  he  had  seen  a  hun 
dred  times  before,  trying  to  be  affable  with  those 
who  remembered  him  and  looking  constantly  and 
eagerly  toward  the  stairway.  Just  before  the  gong 
sounded  she  appeared.  Hicks  gave  a  cry  of  ad 
miration  that  attracted  the  attention  of  everybody 
in  the  hall. 

Mrs.  Lester  stood  for  a  moment,  posed  on  the 
bottom  step.  She  wore  a  black,  satiny  dress,  draped 
and  interdraped  about  her  perfect  figure.  Her  cor 
sage  was  cut  low,  and  her  sleeves  were  short,  dis 
playing  a  milky  throat  and  bosom  and  white  and 
shapely  arms.  There  was  a  twisted  rope  of  seed 
pearls  about  her  neck,  her  fingers  glittered  with  rings 
and  long,  oddly  shaped  ornaments  of  seed  pearls 
depended  from  her  ears.  Her  face  had  a  fashion 
able  pallor,  but  her  lips  were  red,  and  there  was 
just  the  suspicion  of  a  shadow  under  her  eyes.  Her 
intensely  black  hair  was  drawn  flatly  and  tightly 


THE    FAKERS  123 

down  across  her  ears  but  had  an  undulated  appear 
ance  for  all  that,  and  extended  out  on  her  pale 
cheeks,  where  its  black  gave  vivid  contrast  to  their 
pallor.  It  was  wound  into  an  elaborate  knot  low 
on  her  neck.  Her  little  feet  were  shod  in  black 
satin  pumps,  with  jet  buckles.  Her  expression  was 
that  of  discreet  melancholy,  of  decorous  but  ex 
tremely  fashionable  woe. 

Hicks  was  standing  in  the  center  of  the  hall,  his 
lips  apart,  his  eyes  wide  with  admiration,  his  hands 
opening  and  shutting  nervously. 

After  a  pause  she  approached  slowly,  gracefully, 
looking  steadily  ahead  of  her.  As  she  reached  the 
center  of  the  room  she  hesitated  for  a  moment  and 
glanced  at  Hicks,  then  suddenly  turned  her  eyes 
awTay. 

Hicks  started  forward.  "Mrs.  Lester!"  he  be 
gan,  and  then  blushed  and  shrank  back. 

She  gave  no  sign  of  recognition. 

"Pardon  me,"  stammered  Hicks,  "but — you  see 
— I  felt — I  saw — I  have  known " 

Mrs.  Lake  arrived.  She  relieved  the  situation  by 
saying:  "Mrs.  Lester,  allow  me  to  present  Mr. 
Hicks." 

Mrs.  Lester  smiled  a  sort  of  a  slow,  impersonal 
smile  at  Hicks  and  said  in  a  low,  well-modulated 
voice:  "I  am  charmed." 

"Pleased  to  meet  you,"  chattered  Hicks,  who  had 
regained  a  measure  of  his  self-possession.  "Pleased 
to  meet  you,  I'm  sure.  I  feel  as  though  I  know 
you,  you  know.  I  saw  you  once  a  long  time  ago 
and  the  memory  of  that  sight  has  remained  with  me 
ever." 

"Indeed,"  she  replied,  "I  regret  that  I  cannot 
remember  having  seen  you." 

"Oh,  it  was  about  two  years  ago.  I  didn't  meet 
you.  You  were  with  your  husband — I " 


124  THE    FAKERS 

She  shuddered  slightly,  and  an  expression  of  pain 
passed  over  her  pallid  face. 

"Oh,  I  beg  your  pardon,"  Hicks  said  hastily,  "I 
forgot.  You're  a  widow  now,  aren't  you?" 

She  shivered  this  time,  instead  of  shuddering  and 
sank  gracefully  into  a  chair. 

"Pleased  to  see  you  again,"  hurried  Hicks.  "I 
felt  it  must  be  that  we  would  meet  again." 

"Did  you?"  she  asked,  "how  romantic!" 

"Oh,"  Hicks  protested,  shifting  from  one  foot  to 
the  other  in  his  excitement,  "not  romantic,  you 
know;  nothing  like  that,  of  course,  but  I  was  so 
much  attracted  by  your  beauty  and  grace  and  all 
that  that  I  just  couldn't  help  being — being 

She  smiled  up  at  him.  "Being  gallant,"  she  said, 
and  Hicks  grew  four  inches  in  his  own  estimation, 
which  made  him  a  very  tall  man  indeed. 

The  gong  sounded.  Hicks  feverishly  sought  Mrs. 
Lake.  "Please,  Mrs.  Lake,"  he  pleaded,  "please 
put  me  at  her  table,  won't  you?" 

"Why,  yes,"  said  that  agreeable  lady,  "I'll  have 
another  chair  placed  there." 

Hicks  rushed  back  to  Mrs.  Lester.  "May  I  have 
the  honor  of  escorting  you  to  dinner?"  he  asked. 
"By  great  good  fortune  I  find  I  am  to  be  at  your 
table." 

She  bowed  and  said  softly:  "Avec  plaisir,  Mon 
sieur." 

Hicks  said  he  didn't  know  what  she  meant,  but, 
as  she  rose,  concluded  she  was  willing  and  strode 
proudly  by  her  side  to  the  table,  and,  as  well  as  he 
could  remember  the  polite  details,  handled  her  chair 
and  her  draperies  as  he  had  seen  her  husband  per 
form  those  offices  long  ago. 

Hicks  broke  immediately  into  a  panegyric  of  him 
self,  telling  of  his  lucrative  law  practice  in  Rextown, 
his  political  activities,  his  fame  as  an  orator;  dilated 


THE    FAKERS  125 

glowingly  on  his  prospects  and  wondered  whether 
Mrs.  Lester  was  joking  or  complimenting  him 
when  she  said  little  things  in  French,  from  time  to 
time.  However,  he  decided  she  was  complimenting 
him,  as  she  seemed  serious  in  her  interest. 

"And  where  is  Rextown?"  she  asked  him. 

"Rextown,"  declaimed  Hicks,  "why,  Rextown  is 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  most  prosperous  cities 

in  the  Middle  West.  It  has "  and  made  a  long 

speech  about  the  manifest  beauties  and  the  more 
manifest  destiny  of  his  place  of  residence. 

"And  you  are  in  politics  there?"  she  said  admir 
ingly. 

"I  should  say  I  am.  I  am  one  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Democratic  party  and  I  shall  be  prominent,  too. 
One  of  these  days  I  shall  be  elected  to  a  big  office." 

"Ma  foi,"  she  said,  "and  you  so  young." 

"That's  just  it,"  urged  Hicks  eagerly;  "I  am 
young  and  I  shall  be  there  when  the  shift  comes." 

"What  shift?"  she  asked.  "The  Republicans 
have  everything  in  the  country,  haven't  they?" 

"So  they  have,  but  my  time  will  come.  The  peo 
ple  will  not  bear  this  burden  of  oppression  forever. 
They  will  arise  and  sweep  this  corrupt  gang  of  ser 
vitors  of  the  special  interests  out  of  power." 

"Then,  I  suppose,"  she  said,  "your  party  will 
come  in  and  do  the  same  thing  over  again.  II  y  a 
encore  de  quoi  glaner." 

"Oh,  no,"  protested  Hicks,  wondering  what  the 
French  meant,  "not  at  all,  I  assure  you;  not  at  all. 
We  are  the  friends  of  the  people."  And  so  it  went 
through  the  dinner. 

Hicks  had  an  engagement  to  meet  Madden  that 
night,  but  he  broke  it  without  compunction.  In 
stead  of  seeing  Madden  he  followed  Mrs.  Lester 
into  the  parlor  after  dinner,  and  tried  to  monopolize 
her,  but  did  not  succeed,  for  some  of  the  others  in 


126  THE    FAKERS 

the  boarding  house  gathered  around,  while  Hicks 
raged  inwardly  at  their  presumption.  She  talked 
with  vivacity  and  animation,  shrugged  her  shoulders 
in  a  most  fascinating  manner,  made  pretty  little 
moues,  was  infinitely  graceful  with  her  hands  and 
spoke  of  travel  in  Europe,  of  the  personages  she 
had  met,  of  her  familiarity  with  the  nobility,  of  her 
knowledge  and  intimacy  with  the  great  families  of 
America.  She  discussed  art  with  a  knowledge  that 
seemed  to  Hicks  to  be  complete  so  far  as  the  old  and 
new  schools  were  concerned,  had  a  comprehensive 
understanding  of  music,  knew  about  books,  and 
especially  the  authors  of  the  day  and  most  of  the 
time  was  so  far  above  the  head  of  Hicks  as  to  force 
him  to  sit  in  silent  wonder  at  her  vast  range  of  in 
formation  and  her  exceeding  culture. 

She  gave  the  impression  that  she  had  spent  much 
of  her  life  in  travel,  and  her  familiarity  with  the 
great  houses  of  England,  France,  Germany  and  Rus 
sia  was  astonishing.  She  talked  knowingly  and 
shrewdly  of  bonds  and  stocks  and  "the  market"  and 
this  portion  of  her  conversation  made  Hicks  even 
more  interested  than  he  was  before.  She  rippled 
along  from  one  topic  to  another,  interlarding  her 
sentences  with  foreign  expressions  and  exclamations, 
and  having  an  effective  way  of  stopping,  after  she 
had  used  one  of  those  expressions,  and  translating  it, 
with  a  little  grimace  of  impatience  with  herself  for 
using  it. 

"Really,"  she  said,  "I  have  passed  so  much  of  my 
life  abroad  it  is  second  nature  to  me  to  lapse  into 
French  or  Russian  or  German — those  languages — 
especially  the  French — are  so  much  more  expressive 
than  ours — don't  you  think?" 

She  turned  her  eyes  on  Hicks  as  she  asked  this 
and  Hicks  assented  readily  and  said  he  had  often 
been  discouraged  at  the  poverty  of  English.  He 


THE    FAKERS  127 

regretted  he  had  no  French  or  German  or  Italian, 
and  resolved  to  buy  a  phrase  book  and  become  a 
linguist. 

There  was  not  an  international  marriage  for  fif 
teen  years  with  which  she  was  unfamiliar.  She 
talked  of  Newport  and  Fifth  Avenue  as  if  she  had 
been  reared  in  the  one  and  lived  every  summer  in 
the  other. 

"When  I  was  visiting  in  Newport,"  she  would 
say,  and  give  a  lively  account  of  some  great  func 
tion  she  attended.  She  was  perfectly  familiar  with 
the  English  nobility,  and  it  seemed  from  her  talk, 
had  been  an  honored  guest  in  every  castle  in  that 
island,  as  well  as  at  all  the  French  chateaux. 

At  ten  o'clock  she  rose  to  go,  with  many  apologies 
for  having  run  on  so.  "I  hope,"  she  added  smil 
ing  radiantly  at  Hicks,  "I  have  not  bored  you." 

"On  the  contrary,  Mrs.  Lester,"  asserted  the 
gallant  Hicks,  who  had  not  taken  his  eyes  from 
her  pale,  but  animated,  face  once  during  the  eve 
ning,  and  who  had  hung  rapturously  on  her  every 
word,  and  listened  with  envy  to  her  recital  of  her 
acquaintance  with  the  great  ones  of  society,  "on 
the  contrary  I  have  been  charmed,  more  than 
charmed.  It  is  a  great  honor  to  have  met  you." 

She  bowed  and,  after  a  moment's  pause  in  the  light 
of  the  chandelier,  glided  out  of  the  room.  She 
turned  for  an  instant  at  the  door,  smiled  brilliantly 
again,  said  "bon  soir"  and  was  gone. 

Hicks  went  up  to  his  room  in  a  whirl  of  de 
light.  He  felt  sure  he  had  made  an  impression  on 
Mrs.  Lester,  recounted  to  himself  every  look  she 
gave  him,  every  smile,  told  over  to  himself  her 
various  perfections — the  cataloging  took  a  long 
time — and  went  to  sleep  filled  with  the  hope  of  a 
better  acquaintance  with  this  charming,  cultured 
woman. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

ALYS  DE  MOUNTFORT  LESTER  was 
born  in  a  small  town  in  Pennsylvania. 
Her  father  was  a  doctor  with  a  good 
practice,  and  her  name  was  Alice  Jen 
nings.    Her  mother  was  a  refined,  edu 
cated,  quiet  woman,  and  the  family  one  of  the  best 
in  the  village.     Alice   was   sent  to   a   fashionable 
school  when  she  was  seventeen,  and  ran  away  and 
was  married  to  Hugo  Lester  before  she  had  com 
pleted  her  second  term.     Lester  was  of  English  de 
scent,  and  his  father  had  been  rich,  but  at  the  time 
of  Hugo's  marriage  was  in  financial  straits.     Hugo 
had  been  educated  beyond  his  intellect.     He  was  a 
gentleman,   of  polished  manners,   and  had  always 
expected  to  be  rich  and  to  live  in  luxury  and  at 
ease.     He  took  his  wife  to  his  father's  house  and 
they  lived  with  him  for  a   few  years.     Then  the 
father  died,  leaving  the  son  and  his  wife  a  big  house 
and  a  correspondingly  big  mortgage  and  nothing 
else. 

Lester  was  forced  to  go  to  work,  and  he  had  np 
ability  for  work,  nor  any  adaptability.  He  at 
tached  himself  to  an  old  friend  of  his  father's  in 
a  secretarial  capacity  and,  after  a  year  or  so  of 
this,  was  appointed  to  a  clerkship  in  the  State  De 
partment  at  Washington.  Through  influential 
friends  he  was  given  a  position  in  Paris,  and  he 
and  his  wife  spent  two  years  in  France.  While 
there,  he,  being  of  good  birth,  and  aided  by  his 

128 


THE    FAKERS  129 

wife,  secured  some  commissions  in  Russia,  Germany 
and  Italy,  and  they  traveled  in  each  of  these  coun 
tries. 

Alice  Jennings  was  a  clever  girl.  From  the  time 
she  began  to  evolve  from  the  flapper  stage  she  held 
herself  to  be  better  than  her  associates  in  the  home 
village,  and  better  than  her  family.  She  was  an 
only  daughter,  spoiled  by  an  indulgent  father,  and 
had  no  difficulty  in  overriding  her  mother.  She  had 
a  passion  for  clothes,  which  she  indulged  as  well  as 
she  was  able,  and  a  talent  for  making  her  resources 
go  further  than  any  other  girl  in  the  village  or  at 
the  school  when  she  went  away  from  home.  She 
loathed  the  small  town  in  which  she  lived,  read  the 
social  news  in  the  papers,  even  when  she  was  just 
coming  into  her  teens,  early  displayed  a  fondness 
for  exalting  herself  by  claiming  acquaintance  with 
those  above  her  in  social  standing.  That  later  be 
came  a  positive  genius  for  that  sort  of  self-appre 
ciation.  She  married  Lester  because  she  thought 
he  was  rich  and  had  position. 

She  was  smart  at  school,  with  a  fondness  for  lan 
guages,  but  was  entirely  superficial  in  her  studies. 
From  her  earliest  childhood  she  was  a  chatterbox. 
She  talked  unceasingly,  but  brightly,  and  was  clever 
enough  to  deal  with  subjects  in  her  conversation 
concerning  which  she  had  a  slight  knowledge.  She 
never,  either  as  a  child,  or  as  a  woman,  touched  any 
but  the  high  places  in  her  talk.  She  was  intensely 
egotistical  and  longed  for  admiration.  She  had  a 
great  skill  in  dress,  and  a  full  knowledge  of  her  own 
fine  physical  points  and  how  to  accentuate  them. 

Her  husband  had  little  money,  but  she  made  the 
most  of  that.  She  was  a  genius  for  finding  out  the 
best  places  to  live  within  their  means,  and  always 
insisted  on  rigid  adherence  to  the  conventionalities. 
She  never  failed  to  dress  for  dinner,  nor  would 


i3o  THE    FAKERS 

she  allow  her  husband  to  appear  after  six  o'clock 
in  any  but  evening  clothes.  Their  public  attitude 
toward  one  another  was  one  of  exceeding  and  formal 
politeness,  and  she  always  strove  to  create  the  im 
pression  they  had  much  more  money  than  they  did 
have.  In  reality  the  Lesters  got  along  well  to 
gether,  for  Lester  was  a  dull,  listless,  complaisant 
man,  awed  by  the  brilliancy  of  his  wife,  and  not 
daring  to  oppose  her.  His  only  talent  was  a  talent 
for  cards.  He  was  an  expert  bridge-whist  player, 
and  his  wife  was  almost  his  equal. 

She  could  sing  a  little,  play  the  piano  acceptably, 
and  had  a  most  agreeable  talent  for  visiting.  In 
deed,  she  was  a  professional  visitor  and  she  was  a 
useful  guest.  She  and  her  husband  were  ever  ready 
for  bridge,  and  both  could  dance.  She  was  always 
faultlessly  dressed  in  the  latest  mode;  had  an  in 
exhaustible  fund  of  small  talk,  and  was  continuously 
in  good  spirits.  The  climbing  hostesses  who  invited 
the  Lesters  to  visit  them,  thinking  the  Lesters  were 
of  the  set  they  aspired,  to  enter,  were  always  sure 
they  would  have  one  pair  of  guests  who  would  carry 
themselves  with  the  utmost  rigidity  of  polite  de 
portment,  who  would  stay  as  long  as  they  possibly 
could  and  who  would  add  much  to  the  gaiety  and 
attractiveness  of  their  imitations  of  the  house 
parties  of  the  social  boarders.  And  if  she  chanced 
to  meet  a  fashionable  woman  that  gave  her  added 
capital  for  her  future,  for  she  was  extraordinarily 
skilful  in  weaving  into  her  conversation,  in  a  most 
impressive  manner,  accounts  of  her  previous  enter 
taining. 

Always  harassed  by  a  small  income,  she  was  a 
marvel  at  getting  the  worth  of  her  money.  She 
knew  where  the  best  could  be  obtained  for  the 
least  price.  Her  clothes  were  always  in  the  latest 
mode,  but  the  few  close  women  friends  she  had 


THE    FAKERS  131 

were  at  a  loss  to  understand  how  she  did  it.  Her 
secret  was  her  own  skill  at  dressmaking,  and  her 
vast  adaptability  to  the  mode  of  the  moment.  She 
never  threw  anything  away.  Every  gown  she  had 
was  in  her  possession  for  years.  She  had  one  trunk 
that  was  filled  with  old  waists,  old  skirts,  pieces  of 
lace,  and  all  the  ephemera  of  woman's  attire.  From 
these,  with  a  little  new  added  material,  she  could 
supervise  her  sewing  woman's  efforts  until  she  was 
gowned  to  the  minute  and  for  every  occasion.  Her 
economies  in  dress,  in  lingerie,  in  all  her  adornments 
were  the  marvel  of  those  few  who  knew  of  her 
private  affairs;  and  only  a  few  knew,  for  she  main 
tained  her  pose  of  wealth  and  social  standing  and 
adequate  resources  even  to  her  most  intimate 
friends. 

Her  hats  were  the  envy  of  her  acquaintances.  She 
was  a  milliner  as  well  as  a  dressmaker,  and  she 
could  browbeat  the  haughty  proprietor  of  a  fash 
ionable  hat  shop  into  taking  her  materials  and  using 
them  with  a  latest  Paris  model  hat  body  until  she 
appeared  in  a  creation  that  cost  her  little  and  looked 
as  if  it  were  direct  from  France.  Both  in  Europe 
and  in  this  country  she  had  made  a  study  of  the 
shops.  She  knew  the  best  place,  and  the  lowest 
priced,  to  get  gloves,  shoes,  stockings,  even  down 
to  hatpins  and  hairpins.  She  had  cheap,  but  effec 
tive,  seamstresses  and  hatwomen  in  every  capital 
in  Europe,  and  in  New  York.  So,  too,  with  every 
article  of  attire.  Always  she  was  perfectly  ap 
pointed  even  to  the  latest  mode  in  jewelry,  and  she 
never  by  any  chance  wore  real  jewelry,  except  a 
diamond  ring  or  two,  but  her  imitation  pearls  and 
her  imitation  ornaments  of  every  kind  were  of  the 
very  best  and  were  bargained  for  and  secured  at  the 
lowest  outlay. 

She  wore  plumes  on  her  hats,  in  plume  times, 


i32  THE    FAKERS 

that  looked  as  if  they  were  just  imported,  and  had 
been  in  her  millinery  reserve  stock  for  years.  She 
could  make  over  a  fancy  waist  half  a  dozen  times 
and  each  time  it  seemed  to  have  come  fresh  from 
a  Fifth  Avenue  modiste.  She  bought  one  or  two 
new  gowns  each  year,  and  perhaps  one  new  hat, 
and  each  investment  was  the  subject  of  worry  and 
trouble  for  the  tailor  or  dressmaker  or  the  milliner 
for  days  and  days,  for  she  knew  what  she  wanted, 
made  every  penny  of  her  money  count,  and  had  a 
manner,  that  was  irresistible,  of  bluffing  the  trades 
people  into  her  way  of  thinking  and  into  carrying 
out  her  desires.  She  had  had  gowns  and  hats  from 
famous  Paris  houses,  and  she  had  carefully  pre 
served  the  name  labels  from  these  and  sewed  them 
time  and  again  into  her  American-made  clothes. 
She  never  had  a  gown  or  hat,  by  any  chance,  that 
did  not  have  a  Paris  label  on  it. 

She  was  tall,  slender,  with  an  excellent  figure, 
and  masses  of  black  hair.  Her  teeth  were  even  and 
good  and  her  hair  of  sufficient  quantity  to  obviate 
the  necessity  for  artificial  amplification  even  in  the 
time  of  the  greatest  puffiness.  Her  complexion 
was  pale,  but  clear,  and  her  skill  with  rouges 
amounted  to  wizardry.  Her  only  object  in  life, 
aside  from  being  entertained  so  she  would  not  be 
obliged  to  spend  money  for  board,  was  to  enhance 
her  attractiveness  in  order  that  she  might  gain 
greater  admiration.  She  was  entirely  self-centered, 
and  cared  nothing  for  men  except  as  she  might  use 
them. 

She  had  the  air  of  one  born  to  the  purple  and 
disdained  any  but  the  most  select  society.  She  was 
affected  in  her  conversation,  her  gestures,  her  poses 
and  her  walk.  She  had  a  smattering  of  many  ac 
complishments,  but  was  accomplished  in  none,  and 
was  clever  enough  to  make  everybody  believe  she 


THE    FAKERS  133 

was  accomplished  in  all.  She  faked  her  familiarity 
with  the  foreign  languages,  her  knowledge  of  art, 
music,  books  and  fashionable  sport  and  society. 
She  read  book-reviews  so  she  might  talk  intelligently 
of  books  to  bookish  people,  but  she  never  read  a 
book  or  a  poem  through.  No  subject  of  ordinary 
conversation  but  was  familiar  to  her,  to  hear  her 
tell  it,  and  she  even  went  so  far  as  to  dip  into 
politics  a  bit  in  order  to  make  herself  agreeable  to 
men.  She  knew  the  patter  of  baseball  and  golf 
and  polo  and  hunting,  and,  when  away  from  the 
ball  park,  or  the  links,  or  the  hunting-field,  was 
expert  in  each.  She  could  dance  wonderfully  well, 
and  took  up  each  of  the  latest  dancing  crazes  as 
it  came  along. 

She  had  made  herself  a  family  crest,  skillfully 
confining  the  good  parts  of  half  a  dozen  crests  she 
had  copied  from  books  on  heraldry  in  a  public 
library,  had  insisted  on  putting  "de  Mountfort"  into 
her  name  after  she  was  married,  and,  after  her 
first  visit  to  Paris,  had  changed  the  commonplace 
"Alice"  to  "Alys,"  which,  as  she  told  everybody, 
was  pronounced  "Al-leece."  When  she  played 
cards  she  talked  constantly  of  her  European 
triumphs  and  commented  on  each  hand  with  snatches 
of  French  or  Italian  or  German.  She  had  visited 
in  Russia,  having  been  invited  to  St.  Petersburg  by 
a  woman  she  met  in  Paris,  and,  on  especial  occa 
sions,  she  used  a  little  Russian — all  she  knew,  but 
more  than  anybody  else  knew. 

She  regarded  her  husband  as  a  harmless  adjunct 
to  her  enterprises,  and  was  decorously  sorry  when  he 
died,  taking  consolation  in  the  thought  that  she  would 
look  extremely  well  in  mourning.  She  draped  her 
self  in  black,  but  it  was  black  fashioned  into  the 
most  modish  creations,  and  her  affectation  of  public 
woe  was  so  well  done  as  to  stamp  her  as  an  actress 


134  THE    FAKERS 

of  extraordinary  ability.  At  first  she  put  on  the 
deepest  black,  unrelieved  in  any  particular,  and  used 
a  pencil  to  accentuate  the  circles  about  her  eyes  and 
a  powder  to  increase  the  pallor  of  her  cheeks,  and 
give  the  impression  of  deep,  pathetic  and  hopeless 
grief.  Presently,  however,  her  mourning  began  to 
take  on  various  little  worldly  quirks,  and  was  light 
ened,  here  and  there,  with  white  and  other  modest 
colors  to  relieve  it.  However,  she  was  of  the  com 
plexion  and  hair  and  eyes  to  look  particularly  well 
in  black,  and  being  economical  perforce,  concluded 
to  make  black  the  basis  of  her  robing,  inasmuch 
as  when  a  woman  gets  her  clothes  organized  for 
black  or  any  other  predominating  color,  it  is  much 
cheaper  to  continue  reasonably  along  these  color 
lines. 

Alys  knew,  too,  that  there  is  something  alluring  in 
fashionable  weeds  worn  by  a  widow,  when  the  widow 
is  past  the  absolute  grief  stage  and  is  observing 
things — and  men — out  of  the  corners  of  her  eyes 
and  she  frequently,  and  pathetically,  said  in  explana 
tion  of  her  continued  use  of  this  color:  "Black  is 
such  a  protection  to  a  woman  alone  in  the  world." 
She  was  a  calm,  collected  and  exceedingly  attractive 
widow. 

Her  husband  left  her  twenty  thousand  dollars'  life 
insurance.  She  thrust  herself  on  his  friends  and  de 
manded  they  invest  the  money  for  her  or  tell  her  how 
to  get  enough  income,  and  they  came  to  her  rescue 
and  doubled  this  sum  for  her  in  one  way  or  an 
other.  This  was  carefully  put  into  good  dividend- 
paying  stocks  and  gilt-edged  bonds,  and  in  the  proc 
ess  she  learned  superficially  enough  financial  phrases 
to  enable  her  to  talk  understandingly  of  finance  to 
amateurs,  which  the  people  she  met  usually  were. 
She  had  an  income  of  about  twenty-five  hundred 
dollars  a  year. 


THE    FAKERS  135 

After  the  death  of  her  husband  she  had  re 
turned  to  Washington,  because  she  considered  Wash 
ington  an  admirable  base  for  her  operations,  which 
were  to  consist  of  living  as  comfortably  and  fash 
ionably  as  possible,  by  the  aid  of  her  friends  and 
her  talent  for  visiting,  with  as  little  expenditure  of 
her  own  money  as  she  could  manage.  She  went  to 
Mrs.  Lake's  boarding-house  because  that  was  a  high- 
class  place  of  its  kind,  much  better  for  her  purposes 
than  one  of  the  smaller  hotels,  which  were  the  only 
hotels  within  reach  of  her  purse.  She  had  it  in 
mind  to  make  another  marriage,  sometime,  a  mar 
riage  that  would  provide  her  with  money,  to  a  rea 
sonable  degree,  and  with  position  she  might  take 
the  place  she  coveted  in  official  society.  To  this 
end  she  assayed  every  eligible  man  she  met,  coldly 
and  shrewdly,  considering  all  men  who  were  un 
attached  as  prospects  and  investigating  them  with 
her  two  standards  in  mind:  money  and  position. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

HICKS   was  much   disappointed  because 
Mrs.   Lester   did  not  come   down   to 
breakfast  next  morning,   and  hurried 
back  that  evening  to  meet  her.     Soon 
after  six  o'clock  she  made  another  ef 
fective  descent  of  the  staircase,  in  another  effective 
gown. 

"I  should  think,"  sniffed  a  straight-up-and-down 
wife  of  a  Representative,  "that  she  would  get  tired 
of  those  theatrical  entrances  and  exits  of  hers,  but, 
apparently,  she  never  does,  even  if  we  do." 

"My  dear  Mrs.  Perkins,"  protested  the  aston 
ished  Hicks,  "how  can  you  talk  like  that?  She  is 
the  most  natural  and  unaffected  woman  I  ever  met." 
"Then,"  commented  Mrs.  Perkins,  bitingly,  "you 
haven't  met  many  women.  I  suppose  it  impresses 
you  because  you  are  young  and  fresh  from  the 
West,  but  I,  for  one,  am  tired  of  her  continual 
pose.  Perhaps,  though,"  and  she  concentrated  a 
baleful  gaze  on  Hicks,  "she  is  putting  on  some  extra 
frills  for  your  benefit.  She  has  been  a  widow  long 
enough  now,  I  fancy,  and  maybe  she  has  picked  you 
out  to  be  her  next  satchel-carrier.  She  looks  at 
every  man  with  that  in  view." 

Hicks  affected  great  indignation,  although  the 
thought  made  him  glow  within.  "Preposterous !" 
he  exclaimed.  "Her  grief  is  sincere,  I  am  sure, 
and  she  has  no  idea  of  anything  of  the  kind." 

136 


THE    FAKERS  137 

"Have  you?"  asked  Mrs.  Perkins,  looking 
squarely  at  Hicks. 

"Not  in  the  least;  not  in  the  least.  I  am  simply 
attracted  by  her  culture  and  charm." 

"Well,  then,  take  the  advice  of  another  woman, 
who  knows  something  about  her  sex,  and  do  not 
be  deluded  too  much  by  that  culture  or  those 
charms." 

"Why,  the  idea !"  protested  Hicks,  lamely,  but 
that  was  the  only  retort  he  could  think  of  at  the 
moment.  His  mind  and  his  eyes  were  on  Mrs. 
Lester. 

He  discoursed  at  length  to  Mrs.  Lester  that  night, 
and  asked  her  if  she  wouldn't  like  to  go  to  the 
theater  with  him. 

"I'm  sorry,"  she  said,  sweetly,  "but  I  am  still  in 
mourning,  you  know,  and  never  go  out  publicly. 
Indeed,  I  remain  in  my  room  most  of  the  time, 
only  occasionally  visiting  my  most  intimate  friends 
here,"  and  she  told  Hicks,  in  what  seemed  a  most 
casual  manner,  that  those  friends  were  the  real 
leaders  of  Washington  society,  and  persons  of  in 
fluence  and  distinction. 

"It  wouldn't  hurt  any  to  go  to  the  theater,  would 
it?"  urged  Hicks,  thinking  he  might  have  her  to 
himself  for  a  few  hours,  away  from  the  others  in 
the  boarding-house. 

"Oh,  la  la,  I  suppose  not,  but  don't  you  think  it 
would  be  much  cosier  to  stay  here  and  chat  than 
to  go  to  a  stuffy  theater  and  see  a  mediocre  play? 
Our  American  stage  is  so  much  inferior  to  the  Eng 
lish  stage,  don't  you  think,  and  as  for  the  stage  in 
Paris — ah — the  stage  in  Paris!"  and  she  made  an 
other  gesture  and  lifted  her  eyes  ecstatically,  "there 
is  no  comparison.  Such  subtle  interpretation  of  the 
emotions!  I  adore  the  stage  of  Paris!" 

"I  wouldn't  want  a  lady  I  know  to  see  most  of 


138  THE    FAKERS 

the  French  plays  I've  heard  about,"  said  Hicks, 
virtuously. 

She  laughed  a  tinkling  laugh.  "Oh,"  she  ex 
claimed,  "you  Puritans,  you  American  Puritans. 
Why,  you  must  not  impute  sordid  motives  to  the 
French  stage.  It  is  the  exemplification  of  art — of 
— life — the  wit  and  life  of  the  dear,  dear  French 
people." 

She  asked  Hicks  if  he  had  ever  been  to  the 
Comedie  Franchise,  or  to  the  Odeon,  and  told  of 
the  gruesome  plays  of  the  Grand  Guignol.  Hicks, 
much  abashed,  confessed  he  had  never  been  abroad, 
but  hastened  to  say  he  intended  to  make  a  tour 
soon,  and  seized  the  first  opening  he  had  to  change 
the  subject  to  himself.  Hicks  was  thoroughly  at 
home  when  talking  about  himself,  and  was  lavish 
with  his  commendation  of  his  talents,  his  future, 
discoursing  eloquently  on  the  political  honors  that 
were  inevitably  in  store  for  him. 

"I  shall  win,"  he  declaimed,  "for  the  people  are 
mighty  and  must  prevail." 

Mrs.  Lester  listened  with  a  rather  distraught  air. 
Once  or  twice  she  yawned  politely.  Hicks  did  not 
notice  the  yawns,  and  kept  along  with  his  self- 
praise. 

Once,  when  he  stopped  for  breath,  Mrs.  Lester, 
assuming  a  most  interested  air,  which  was  belied 
by  a  twinkle  in  her  eyes,  said,  with  a  pretty  seri 
ousness  :  "Oh,  Mr.  Hicks,  I  love  to  hear  you 
talk.  You  are  so  earnest,  so  sincere,  and  earnest 
ness  and  sincerity  are  so  rare  in  these  days." 

She  sighed,  as  if  this  lack  of  earnestness  and  sin 
cerity  was  an  added  personal  woe. 

Whereupon  the  fatuous  Hicks  plunged  into  an 
other  oration  which  had  his  own  earnestness  and 
sincerity  for  a  theme.  "I  think  I  may  say,"  he  be 
gan,  pompously,  "that " 


THE    FAKERS  139 

Mrs.  Lester  had  been  looking  for  a  chance  to 
escape.  This  flamboyant  young  man  was  begin 
ning  to  bore  her.  She  saw  Mrs.  Lake  and  rising, 
said:  "Excuse  me,  Mr.  Hicks,  won't  you?  I  am 
so  interested,  but  there  is  a  matter  I  must  mention 
to  Mrs.  Lake.  Good  night." 

She  held  out  her  hand  impulsively,  as  it  seemed 
to  Hicks,  and  he  grasped  it  and  pressed  it  ever  so 
little.  She  looked  at  him  archly,  withdrew  her 
hand,  and  glided  over  to  Mrs.  Lake,  who  followed 
her  upstairs,  at  Mrs.  Lester's  earnest  request. 

Hicks  went  out  and  took  a  walk,  recalling  her 
every  word  and  look.  Certainly,  she  was  the  most 
attractive  woman  he  had  ever  met,  and  a  future 
spent  in  her  company  rose  before  his  mind.  He 
went  to  bed  in  a  happy  haze. 

Mrs.  Lester  was  not  at  dinner  next  day,  and 
Hicks  tried  to  learn  why,  with  no  success.  Mrs. 
Lake  said  she  had  gone  out  to  dine.  He  ate  his 
meal  in  moody  silence  and  wandered  about  the 
parlors  and  hall  wondering  where  she  was  and  be 
moaning  the  sad  fate  that  kept  him  from  seeing 
her.  Mrs.  Perkins  was  sitting  by  the  fire  and 
Hicks,  in  desperation,  pulled  up  a  chair  and  sat 
down  beside  her. 

Mrs.  Perkins  was  a  catty  person,  who  had  been 
snubbed  by  Mrs.  Lester  when  she  had  endeavored 
to  make  some  discoveries  about  Mrs.  Lester's  per 
sonal  affairs.  Hicks  ventured  a  few  commonplaces. 
Mrs.  Perkins,  knowing  what  was  on  his  mind,  waited 
for  her  opening.  It  came  when  Hicks,  in  what  he 
deemed  was  a  most  unconcerned  manner,  said:  "I 
didn't  see  Mrs.  Lester  at  dinner  to-night." 

Mrs.  Perkins's  eyes  gleamed  malevolently.  "No," 
she  replied,  "I  suppose  she  was  out  dining  with  some 
of  her  high  society  friends — leaders  of  the  exclusive 
set." 


140  THE    FAKERS 

"She  has  many  friends  among  the  most  influential 
people,  she  tells  me,"  observed  Hicks. 

"That's  what  she  tells  everybody,"  snapped  Mrs. 
Perkins,  "but  you  mustn't  believe  all  you  near,  espe 
cially  when  a  widow  who  is  trying  to  keep  up  ap 
pearance  is  doing  the  telling." 

Hicks  paid  little  attention  to  what  Mrs.  Perkins 
said.  He  was  thinking  of  Mrs.  Lester.  After  a 
moment's  silence,  he  asked:  "How  old  do  you 
suppose  she  is?" 

"That  is  a  matter  of  conjecture,"  Mrs.  Perkins 
answered.  "Judging  from  the  amount  of  European 
traveling  she  has  done  and  the  length  of  time  she 
has  lived  in  the  castles  of  the  nobility  she  must  be 
seventy;  looking  at  her  under  the  shaded  lights  of 
this  room  she  seems  about  thirty;  if  you  could  get 
a  glimpse  of  her  in  the  morning  before  she  is  rigged 
up  she  might  seem  older  than  that.  She  says  she 
is  twenty-six  and  was  married  when  she  was  seven 
teen.  Make  your  own  guess." 

"I  should  say,"  ventured  Hicks,  "that  twenty-six 
or  twenty-seven  is  about  right." 

Mrs.  Perkins  changed  her  attitude.  "Sonny," 
she  said,  not  unkindly,  "you'd  better  run  right  back 
home.  You  may  do  something  foolish  if  you  stay 
here." 

She  rose  and  left  him  and  Hicks  sat  and  stared 
into  the  fire.  He  acknowledged  to  himself  that  he 
was  strongly  swayed  by  Mrs.  Lester,  and  hoped 
she  liked  him,  but  to  that  time  it  had  not  been 
brought  home  to  him  that  he  might,  under  the  in 
fluence  of  his  stirred  emotions,  go  farther  than  he 
expected  to.  He  had  no  intention  of  getting  mar 
ried,  even  if  so  remote  a  contingency  arose  as  Mrs. 
Lester's  consent  to  marry  him,  which  had  not  oc 
curred  to  him  concretely,  albeit  there  had  been  vague 
notions  on  the  subject  in  his  mind.  He  was  entirely 


THE    FAKERS  141 

interested  in  the  career  he  intended  to  make  for 
himself,  and  he  pondered  the  things  Mrs.  Perkins 
had  said. 

Hicks  was  not  a  woman's  man.  He  was  en 
grossed  with  himself  and  his  ambitions,  and,  up  to 
this  time,  had  not  been  impressed  particularly  with 
any  woman,  although  some  women  had  appealed 
to  him  because  of  their  beauty  and  attractiveness. 

"Pshaw!"  he  said,  as  he  rose  to  go  to  his  room, 
"what's  the  use  of  my  getting  excited  about  this 
woman!  It'll  be  ten  years  before  I  want  to  get 
married,  and  probably  I'll  never  see  her  again  after 
I  go  home." 

But  he  couldn't  dismiss  her  from  his  mind,  and 
the  fetching  pictures  she  had  presented  were  en 
graved  on  his  memory. 

On  the  advice  of  Senator  Paxton,  Hicks  devoted 
much  of  his  time  to  making  himself  known  to  the 
Democratic  leaders  in  the  Senate  and  House.  He 
called  on  all  the  big  men,  and  was  twice  invited  to 
luncheon  in  the  Senate  restaurant  by  Democratic 
senators  to  whom  Senator  Paxton  had  introduced 
him.  He  had  met  most  of  the  big  Democrats  by 
the  time  he  was  ready  to  go  home.  Paxton  con 
gratulated  him  on  his  ability  for  making  friends. 

"You  are  getting  on,  Tommie,"  said  the  Senator 
to  him,  when  Hicks  came  in  to  say  good-by. 
"Hostetter  was  talking  to  me  about  you  the  other 
day.  He  said  you  seem  to  be  a  most  intelligent 
young  Democrat,  and  well  versed  in  the  principles 
of  the  party.  Grantley  mentioned  you,  too." 

Hicks  winced.  He  had  been  in  the  company  of 
Senator  Hostetter  for  an  hour  and  that  garrulous 
statesman  had  talked  continuously,  and  ramblingly, 
about  his  own  scheme  for  currency  reform,  which, 
he  assured  Hicks,  was  a  panacea,  and  the  only  one 
proposed,  for  the  relief  of  the  financial  situation. 


142  THE    FAKERS 

Senator  Grantley's  conversation  had  consisted  of 
three  staccato  inquiries  of  Hicks. 

"What  did  you  say  your  name  is?  Hicks?  Ah, 
yes,  and  where  do  you  live?  Rextown.  Very  good. 
How  are  Democratic  prospects  out  there?" 

Hicks  tried  to  answer,  but  the  Senator  was  busy 
with  a  bowl  of  crackers  and  milk  and  did  not  listen, 
and,  after  a  few  spoonsful  had  been  hoisted  into 
his  capacious  maw,  looked  up  and  asked  exactly 
the  same  things  over  again  and,  without  waiting  for 
further  reply,  dived  into  the  crackers  and  milk  once 
more.  He  did  not  hear  a  word  Hicks  said.  Still, 
Hicks  reflected,  unless  Senator  Paxton  was  joking, 
it  was  something  to  have  these  distinguished  Demo 
crats  remember  him  at  all. 

"I  gained  much  inspiration  from  my  conversation 
with  those  statesmen,"  he  observed. 

Senator  Paxton  looked  at  him  keenly. 

"Oh,  did  you?"  he  asked.  "Well,  there  is  where 
you  have  something  on  the  rest  of  us,  who  achieve 
nothing  but  a  sense  of  utter  weariness  when  they 
talk.  However,  that  is  a  good  sign.  You  take 
it  all  seriously,  or  say  you  do,  which  amounts  to 
the  same  thing,  for  if  you  keep  on  saying  you  do 
you  will,  eventually,  remain  in  that  serious  frame 
of  mind  toward  your  politics.  You  cannot  be  a 
successful  protagonist  for  the  new  freedom  of  the 
people  unless  you  are  continuously  as  intense  and 
consecrated  as  a  hen  that  has  been  bereaved  of  her 
eggs  and  is  sitting  on  a  couple  of  door-knobs. 
Good-by,  and  good  luck  to  you.  Keep  me  in 
formed.  I'm  always  at  your  service." 

Mrs.  Lester  spent  the  week  end  with  some  friends 
and  Hicks  delayed  his  departure  for  a  day  to  see 
her  again  before  he  left.  He  had  talked  to  her 
as  frequently  as  she  allowed  him  to,  and,  while  he 
held  his  feelings  in  check,  he  was  still  under  the  spell 


THE    FAKERS  143 

of  her  many  fascinations.  He  had  inquired  of 
Mrs.  Lake  about  her  age,  being  uneasy  because  of 
the  insinuations  of  Mrs.  Perkins  that  she  was  not 
so  young  as  she  appeared,  and  Mrs.  Lake  had  as 
sured  him  Mrs.  Lester  was  not  a  day  over  twenty- 
seven. 

On  the  night  of  her  return  from  her  week-end 
visit,  Hicks  said,  after  they  were  seated  in  the 
parlor:  "I  am  leaving  to-morrow,  Mrs.  Lester." 

"Are  you?"  she  asked,  with  an  assumption  of 
great  interest.  "Oh,  I'm  so  sorry,  Mr.  Hicks.  I 
have  enjoyed  your  company  very  much." 

Hicks  blushed.  "I  am  glad  to  have  been  an 
instrument  for  giving  you  even  the  slightest  happi 
ness,"  he  declaimed. 

"Oh,  I  have  enjoyed  you  very  much.  It's  so 
hard  to  be  a  woman,  cooped  up  and  bound  round 
by  all  the  ties  and  shackles  of  conventionality,  while 
you  men  can  go  out  in  the  world  and  fight  your 
fights  and  live  your  big,  broad  lives.  It's  so  hard," 
and  she  sighed." 

Hicks  couldn't  think  of  anything  to  say  at  the 
moment,  and  she  sighed  again  and  lifted  her  eyes 
to  him,  for  she  had  no  idea  of  allowing  this  young 
man,  who  had  potentialities  within  himself  as  she 
thought,  to  go  away  from  her  without  a  vivid  and 
enduring  impression  of  her  charms. 

She  devoted  herself  to  him  for  an  hour,  urging 
him  to  recount  his  ambitions  and  his  prospects,  said 
a  few  skilful  things  about  herself,  including  the 
dropping  of  a  hint  or  two  of  her  financial  standing, 
and,  as  she  gave  him  her  hand  at  ten  o'clock,  be 
sought  him  in  a  most  ingenuous  manner  not  to  dis 
miss  her  entirely  from  his  mind  when  he  was  out  in 
Rextown  fighting  the  fight  of  the  people. 

"Forget  you!"  repeated  Hicks,  with  as  much 
sentiment  in  his  voice  as  he  deemed  advisable,  "for- 


144  THE    FAKERS 

get  you?  Why,  Mrs.  Lester,  your  memory  shall 
remain  with  me  always  and  shall  be  my  inspiration 
for  my  future  life." 

She  smiled  radiantly  at  him  and  ran  up  the  stairs, 
turning,  when  half-way  to  the  top,  to  wave  a  pretty 
hand  at  him  and  say,  softly:  "Auf  Wiedersehen!" 

"I  suppose  she  is  worth  a  lot  of  money,"  Hicks 
observed  to  Mrs.  Lake  at  breakfast  next  morning. 

"I  suppose  so,"  Mrs.  Lake  replied,  in  an  ex 
tremely  non-committal  manner. 

Hicks  took  a  train  at  noon.  That  afternoon 
Mrs.  Lester,  stopping  in  the  hallway  to  say  a  few 
words  with  Mrs.  Lake,  brought  up  the  subject  of 
Hicks. 

"Has  Mr.  Hicks  gone?"  she  asked. 

"Yes;  he  left  at  noon." 

"A  nice  young  man,"  she  thought,  as  she  went 
down  the  steps  leading  to  the  street.  "Perhaps  he 
will  do  some  of  the  things  he  says  he  will.  I'll 
keep  track  of  him." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

HICKS  stopped  at  Salestown  to  see  his 
mother,  spent  two  boastful  days  among 
his  boyhood  friends,  telling  them  of  his 
success    in    Rextown.      He    wrote    an 
article   about  himself  for  the  Beacon 
which  Editor  Grandison  promised  to  publish,  and 
which  caused  Colonel  Seth  Howard  to  grow  purple 
in  the  face  when  he  read  it,  because  of  the  appre 
ciative  way  in  which  Hicks  referred  to  himself  as 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Rextown  bar  and  prom 
inent  in  politics  there. 

He  took  stock  of  himself  on  the  train  for  Rex 
town,  after  his  mother  had  bade  him  a  fond  and 
tearful  farewell.  It  would  be  two  years  in  April 
since  he  first  reached  Rextown.  He  had  made,  in 
fees,  for  collections  and  in  various  young-lawyer 
ways,  about  two  thousand  dollars,  and  still  had  some 
of  his  original  capital  in  the  First  National  Bank. 
He  had  acquired  many  acquaintances  and  some 
friends.  He  had  established  himself  as  a  young 
man  of  good  character,  was  regular  in  his  attendance 
at  church,  and  felt  sure  Rollins  liked  him.  He  had 
appeared  in  the  newspapers  from  time  to  time,  had 
secured  his  recognition  as  a  Democrat,  was  gain 
ing  a  facility  for  public  speaking,  and  had  attached 
Gudger  to  himself  for  legal  purposes.  That  poor 
dipsomaniac  was  glad  to  get  anything  at  all  to  do 
in  order  to  make  some  extra  money,  and  Hicks  used 

i45 


i46  THE    FAKERS 

him  constantly  in  his  little  law  business,  and  sym 
pathized  with  him,  and  forgave  him  when  he  lapsed. 
Gudger  looked  on  Hicks  as  a  benefactor. 

With  Gudger  he  had  fought  the  Rollins-Barkiss 
case  through  a  seemingly  endless  series  of  negotia 
tions  and  had  finally  forced  a  compromise  with 
Chittlings,  because  of  Gudger's  superior  legal  abil 
ities,  for  nine  thousand  dollars,  which  Hicks  had 
paid  to  Rollins,  and  for  which  service  Rollins  gave 
him  four  hundred  dollars,  in  addition  to  his  re 
tainer  for  a  hundred  dollars.  Otherwise,  Hicks 
had  not  advanced  much  in  the  law,  but  he  never 
expected  to  do  much  at  his  law  profession.  That 
was  his  stepping-stone,  only.  While  he  had  no 
doubt  he  could  be  a  great  legal  light  if  he  so  de 
sired,  he  felt  the  rewards  of  politics,  once  the  ex 
pected  overturning  came,  might  be  quicker  and 
easier,  and  with  more  applause  attached.  He  hated 
study  and  the  digging  into  law-books,  and  he  loved 
applause.  Still,  he  knew  the  law  was  his  ostensible 
occupation,  and  he  resolved  to  continue  assiduously 
in  his  search  for  business. 

Chittlings  was  friendly.  Hicks  found  him  to  be 
a  man  of  considerable  rough  ability.  He  was  noisy, 
even  blatant,  and  he  had  none  too  many  scruples, 
but  he  made  friends  and  kept  them.  He  was  a  good 
mixer,  dabbled  somewhat  in  politics,  was  always 
ready  to  buy  a  drink  or  a  cigar,  entertained  a  good 
deal  at  the  Metropolis  Hotel,  belonged  to  the  clubs, 
and  was  the  Rextown  type  of  a  good  fellow.  He 
was  a  Republican.  Hicks  heard  Chittlings  had  un 
derground  connections  with  Ross,  the  local  boss  and 
the  corporations,  and  that  he  helped  "put  over" 
things  in  the  board  of  aldermen  that  were  wanted 
by  the  corporations.  Chittlings,  apparently,  had  no 
ambition  for  office.  He  was  looking  for  money, 
and  he  had  an  income  of  five  or  six  thousand  dollars 


THE    FAKERS  147 

a  year,  which  was  excellent  for  a  man  in  his  position 
in  Rextown  at  that  time. 

"Hello,  Hicks,"  said  Chittlings  one  day  when 
they  met  at  the  Metropolis  Hotel,  "how's  every 
little  thing?" 

"If  you  mean  my  health,  I  am  well,"  Hicks  an 
swered.  "If  you  mean  my  business,  it  is  satis 
factory." 

"Haven't  seen  you  in  court  much." 

Tommie  squirmed  at  this.  "No,"  he  replied,  "I 
have  been  much  taken  with  outside  matters.  How 
ever,  I  have  some  important  cases  in  preparation." 

"Glad  to  hear  it,"  said  Chittlings,  heartily. 
"Come  and  have  a  drink.  Oh,  I  forgot,  you  don't 
drink.  Drop  in  and  see  me  some  day  soon.  I 
want  to  have  a  talk  with  you.  So  long." 

Two  days  later  Hicks  had  nothing  to  do.  He  had 
been  his  hand-shaking  rounds,  had  written  every 
letter  there  was  an  excuse  for  writing,  and  he  went 
down  to  Chittlings's  office. 

Chittlings  was  there.  "Howdy,  Hicks,"  he 
shouted,  after  Tommie  had  sent  in  his  card,  "sit 
down  and  make  yourself  at  home.  Still  busy  with 
those  important  cases,  I  reckon." 

"Yes,"  Tommie  replied,  "they  are  occupying  the 
most  of  my  attention." 

Chittlings  lighted  a  cigar  with  unnecessary  care, 
Hicks  thought,  as  he  watched  the  operation.  When 
the  cigar  was  burning  to  his  satisfaction,  Chittlings 
turned  in  his  chair,  looked  hard  at  Hicks  and  said: 
"Of  course,  Hicks,  I  know  you  haven't  a  case  of 
any  consequence  in  your  office." 

Hicks  flushed.  He  clenched  his  fists  and  jumped 
to  his  feet. 

"Do  you  mean  to  say  I  am  a  liar?"  he  asked, 
excitedly. 

"No,  no,"  soothed  Chittlings,  "sit  down  and  be 


148  THE    FAKERS 

calm.  I  don't  mean  to  say  you  are  a  liar,  but  I 
do  mean  to  say  you  are  a  bluffer,  and  a  pretty  darn 
good  one,  too,  if  anybody  should  ask  you." 

"I  don't  understand,"  protested  Hicks. 

"Oh,  yes,  you  do;  sit  down  and  cut  out  the 
heroics.  You  know  you  haven't  a  case  worth  while 
in  your  office,  I  know  you  haven't  and  you  know 
I  know  it." 

"But " 

"But  nothing!  That's  the  fact.  Now,  then,  I've 
been  watching  you.  Sit  down,  I  tell  you;  there's 
nothing  for  you  to  get  sore  about.  I've  been  watch 
ing  you,  and  I  have  a  proposition  to  make  to  you." 

"What  sort  of  a  proposition?" 

"A  proposition  to  come  into  my  office." 

"On  what  basis?" 

"As  a  partner  with  a  small  interest." 

"How  much  of  an  interest?" 

"That's  a  matter  for  future  consideration.  How 
does  the  main  plot  strike  you?" 

"I  fail  to  see  any  advantage  to  myself  in  such 
an  arrangement." 

"You  do,  do  you?  Well,  listen  to  me  and  I'll 
put  you  wise  as  to  several  advantages.  In  the 
first  place,  you've  got  more  nerve  than  an  insurance 
agent,  and  you've  got  more  self-confidence  than  a 
stock-company  actor.  You  are  moving  around  this 
town  and  getting  a  good  line  of  acquaintances,  and 
are  playing  an  end  of  the  game  that  isn't  in  my 
organization." 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"I  mean  you  have  tied  up  with  the  church  people, 
and  I  have  taken  the  other  end  of  it;  you  have 
joined  the  Democrats  and  I  am  a  Republican;  you 
are  a  good  government  boy,  and  I  am  in  favor  of 
bad  government  if  there  is  anything  in  it  for  me; 
you  are  on  the  reform  lay,  and  I  am  with  the  gang; 


THE    FAKERS  149 

you  are  well  calculated  to  complement  and  supple 
ment  the  activities  of  J.  K.  Chittlings,  which  is 
myself,  and  I  can  use  you  both  to  my  own  and  your 
advantage." 

"It  seems  to  me  a  one-sided  affair,"  commented 
Hicks  who  was  listening  intently. 

"Not  at  all;  not  at  all.  You'll  get  your  share. 
You  are  smart  enough  for  that,  even  if  I  tried  to  do 
you.  You  are  not  much  of  a  lawyer,  and  you  never 
will  be.  You  haven't  a  legal  mind.  You— 

"Then  why  do  you  talk  to  me  about  making  a 
law  partnership  with  you?"  exclaimed  Hicks,  hotly. 

UT 1> 

"Be  calm,  son,  and  let  me  explain.  As  I  was 
saying,  you  are  not  much  of  a  lawyer  and  never 
will  be.  Now,  I  ain't  such  a  hell  of  a  lawyer 
myself.  But  that  doesn't  matter  any  more  with 
me  than  it  does  with  you.  What  I  see  in  you  is 
business-getting  ability.  I  think,  with  development, 
you  can  be  a  good  business-getter.  You  know  how 
to  make  friends  with  people  and  keep  friendly  with 
them,  barring  your  conceit,  for  which  I  give  you  the 
palm  over  any  youngster  I  ever  met,  and  business 
is  what  this  institution  needs." 

"But/'  said  Hicks,  "if  neither  of  us  is  a  lawyer, 
as  you  say,"  and  he  sneered  in  his  best  style,  "what 
good  will  business  be  to  us,  even  if  I  can  get  it?" 

Chittlings  laughed  uproariously. 

"My  boy,"  he  said,  "there  are  many  things  you 
must  learn,  notwithstanding  your  firm  idea  that  you 
know  it  all.  The  success  of  a  law  firm,  from  a  finan 
cial  standpoint,  doesn't  depend  on  the  amount  of  law 
it  knows.  It  depends  on  the  amount  of  law  busi 
ness  it  can  get.  I  can  hire  lawyers  by  the  platoon. 
I  can  get  a  dozen  right  in  this  town  who  know 
more  law  than  you  and  I  ever  will  know,  and  get 
them  for  small  sums,  too.  They  know  the  law,  but 


150  THE    FAKERS 

they  haven't  the  faculty  for  getting  the  business. 
They  can't  cash  in  on  their  knowledge.  I  can  de 
velop  you  into  a  business-getter,  and  I  can  show  you 
how  to  hire  lawyers,  hire  them  by  the  week,  for 
wages.  There  was  that  time,  for  example,  when 
you  hired  Gudger.  Do  you  get  me?" 

"I  merely  engaged  Mr.  Gudger  because  I  was 
busy  with  other  affairs,"  Hicks  protested. 

Chittlings  laughed  again.  "Sure,"  he  said,  "but 
you  hired  him,  didn't  you,  and  you  didn't  fool 
Gudger  and  you  didn't  fool  me.  Still,  in  that  trans 
action  you  showed  a  certain  nerve  and  a  certain 
horse  sense  that  made  me  look  you  over.  Now, 
then,  do  you  want  to  come  in?" 

Tommie  had  been  revolving  the  proposition  in 
his  mind  while  Chittlings  talked.  He  could  see 
advantages,  but  he  didn't  purpose  to  be  eager. 

"I'll  have  to  think  about  it,"  he  replied. 

"Oh,  all  right;  there's  no  hurry.  Let  me  present 
this  angle  to  you,  though:  You  are  a  Democrat 
and  I  am  a  Republican.  You  go  to  church  and  I 
don't.  You  are  taking  the  people's  end  of  it,  or 
will,  when  you  know  how,  and  I  am  for  the  money 
side.  Now,  then,  if  we  join  hands,  under  my  tute 
lage,  you  will  develop  to  an  asset  in  this  business, 
and  we  can  play  both  ends  against  the  middle  and 
get  the  money.  Had  that  occurred  to  you?" 

"I  must  consider  what  you  say." 

"No  hurry.  There's  a  good  opening  here.  Chit 
tlings  and  Hicks.  Sounds  pretty  fair;  eh,  what?" 

Hicks  thought  seriously  of  the  proposition  made 
by  Chittlings.  His  first  and  most  forcible  objection 
was  that  Chittlings  intended  to  call  the  firm  Chit 
tlings  and  Hicks.  He  could  not  justify  that.  In 
his  opinion,  any  coalition  must  be  known  as  Hicks 
and  Chittlings,  not  only  for  the  sake  of  euphony,  as 
it  sounded  to  him,  but  because  he  was  the  Hicks 


THE    FAKERS  151 

concerned.  If  he  could  get  around  that  he  decided 
the  arrangement  might  have  advantage.  Although 
it  pained  him  to  admit  it  to  himself,  he  knew  his 
knowledge  of  the  law  was  so  slight  as  to  be  of  no 
consequence  in  the  straight-out  practise  of  that  pro 
fession,  and  he  realized  the  truth  of  Chittlings's 
claim  that  lawyers  can  be  hired  by  the  week.  He 
felt  confident  he  could  get  business,  by  aid  of  his 
various  civic  and  church  connections,  as  well  as  by 
his  assiduous  cultivation  of  men  with  business  to 
bestow,  and  he  decided  it  would  be  easier  for  this 
business  to  be  carried  through  in  a  lawyer-like  man 
ner  if  Chittlings  was  there  to  look  after  that  end 
of  it. 

Most  of  all  he  was  interested  in  the  hint  by  Chit 
tlings  that,  one  being  a  Democrat  and  the  other  a 
Republican,  they  could  realize  two  ways.  There 
was  something  about  that  that  appealed  to  him 
strongly.  He  didn't  bother  to  analyze  his  own  view 
of  such  a  proceeding,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  he  could 
have  analyzed  it  had  he  tried.  Intrinsically,  con- 
genitally,  from  his  Washington  education,  such  a 
proposition  appealed  to  Hicks.  It  suited  his  tem 
perament.  It  fitted  his  quality  of  mind  and  con 
science.  It  was  on  all-fours  with  his  habitual  prac 
tice.  He  could  see  quick  and  easy  returns.  He 
knew  Chittlings  as  a  forceful  fellow,  who  stood  rea 
sonably  wrell  in  the  community.  More  potent  than 
all  else,  he  figured  that  with  Chittlings  to  guide  him 
he  could  attain  quicker  and  better  results.  So,  after 
mature  deliberation,  he  decided  he  would  join  Chit 
tlings,  provided,  of  course,  the  firm's  name  was 
Hicks  and  Chittlings.  He  must  exact  that  tribute 
to  his  own  importance. 

He  talked  with  Rollins  about  Chittlings.  "What 
sort  of  a  chap  is  he?"  he  asked. 

"All  right,  professionally  and  personally,  for  all 


152  THE    FAKERS 

I  know,"  Rollins  told  him,  "but  still  he's  a  Repub 
lican." 

"What  difference  does  that  make  so  far  as  his 
professional  standing  goes?"  inquired  Hicks. 

"None,  I  suppose,"  Rollins  said,  "not  a  bit,  I 
reckon,  with  the  general  public,  but  I  tell  you,  Hicks, 
there  never  was  a  Republican  I  would  trust  as  far 
as  I  can  throw  a  bull  by  the  tail.  There's  some 
thing  in  that  treasonable  politics  of  theirs  that  makes 
me  suspicious  of  the  whole  kit  and  caboodle  of 
them." 

Hicks  laughed.  "Oh,  Mr.  Rollins,"  he  said,  "I 
fear  you  are  putting  it  too  strongly." 

"Not  a  bit,"  protested  Rollins,  "not  a  bit.  I'm 
not  holding  up  all  Democrats  as  paragons  of  purity, 
you  understand,  but  I'd  take  my  chances  with  one 
in  a  business  deal  sooner  than  I  would  with  one  of 
those  traitorous  Republicans.  Not  one  of  them  is 
sound  on  economic  questions.  Did  I  tell  you  how 
I  flattened  out  that  old  wind-bag,  Collins,  who's 
been  arguing  the  money  question  with  me?"  and  he 
trailed  off  into  a  long  recital  of  the  points  in  his 
latest  letter  controverting  the  statements  of  Colonel 
Cicero  Collins,  the  former  Representative  in  Con 
gress. 

When  he  had  finished,  Hicks  said:  "I  am  con 
sidering  a  proposition  to  go  into  partnership  with 
Mr.  Chittlings." 

"You're  what?"  shouted  Rollins. 

"I  say  he  has  offered  me  a  very  favorable  busi 
ness  arrangement  to  join  with  him  in  the  associated 
practice  of  the  law." 

"But  he's  a  Republican." 

"Certainly  he  is,  but  I  fail  to  see  how  a  business 
association  with  him  will  affect  my  Democracy." 

Rollins  shook  his  head  sadly.  "You  can't  touch 
pitch  without  being  defiled,"  he  said. 


THE    FAKERS  153 

"Oh,  Mr.  Rollins,  it  isn't  so  bad  as  that,"  and 
Hicks  talked  for  twenty  minutes,  showing  how  it 
would  be  a  good  thing  for  the  Democrats  to  be 
in  close  touch  with  a  Republican  who  was,  in  turn, 
in  touch  with  Republican  affairs. 

"Well,"  said  Rollins,  finally,  "maybe  it's  all  right, 
but  I  have  my  doubts." 

He  saw  Chittlings  several  times  and  they  talked 
a  little  of  the  plan.  "No  hurry,"  said  Chittlings. 
"Think  it  over  carefully.  It  will  be  a  good  thing 
for  you." 


CHAPTER  XIX 

CHITTLINGS  went  to  South  America  soon 
afterward,    for   a   client,    and   was   gone 
six  months.     He  told  Hicks  they  would 
take  up  the  matter  of  a  partnership  when 
he   returned.     Hicks  kept  on  at  his  ac 
quaintance-making,    secured    some    business,    which 
Gudger  handled  for  him,  and  was  constantly  in  the 
company  of  Rollins,  who  expressed  great  affection 
and  respect  for  Hicks,  and  helped  him  in  every  pos 
sible  way.      Hicks  participated  in  every  movement 
for  the  betterment  of  Rextown,  was  active  enough 
in  church  affairs  to  keep  himself  in  good  standing, 
and   essayed   the    part   of   prominent   citizen.      He 
wrote    regularly   to    Senator    Paxton,    sending   him 
gossipy  letters,   and  making  free  comments  on  the 
town,    the    people,    his    plans    and    his    prospects. 
Every  time  Hicks's  name  appeared  in  the  papers  he 
sent  a  clipping  to  Paxton.     In  one  letter  he  spoke 
of  the  Chittlings  proposition. 

"On  the  broad,  general  theory,  that  two  heads 
are  better  than  one,  if  each  is  reasonably  non- 
osseous,"  Senator  Paxton  wrote  in  reply,  "I  should 
say  it  is  a  good  thing.  As  a  political  move  it  has  its 
merits,  also,  for  it  stands  to  reason  when  a  law 
firm  is  composed  of  two  partners,  and  has  a  political 
slant  to  it,  if  one  partner  is  a  Democrat  and  the 
other  is  a  Republican  the  harvest  will  be  much 
more  complete  and  satisfactory  than  it  would  be 

i54 


THE    FAKERS  155 

if  both  were  reaping  in  the  same  field.  I  think 
you  might  well  make  the  experiment,  only  never 
trust  any  person,  Tommie,  in  a  business  deal,  except 
me,  and  do  not  be  too  confiding  with  me.  Get  it 
all  down  in  black  and  white  and  don't  let  the  other 
man  use  you  half  as  much  as  you  use  the  other  man. 
Everything,  they  say,  is  fair  in  love  and  war,  and 
that  may  be  so.  It  also  is  true  that  everything  is 
unfair  in  politics,  so  keep  your  eye  on  your  num 
ber  constantly,  and  remember  that  the  only  way  to 
be  prosperous  in  the  future  is  to  have  been  discreet 
in  the  past." 

Chittlings  was  detained  and  did  not  get  back 
to  Rextown  until  September.  "Let  it  wait  until 
the  first  of  the  year,"  he  said  to  Hicks,  and  Hicks 
was  glad  to  do  so,  for  he  was  extremely  busy  with 
politics.  County  conventions  were  to  be  held,  and 
Rollins  insisted  that  the  Democrats  must  put  up  a  full 
ticket,  from  county  judge  to  road  superintendent. 
There  were  many  conferences  at  the  office  of  Rol 
lins,  and  Hicks  took  part  in  them  all.  As  usual, 
it  was  difficult  to  get  Democrats  to  take  nominations, 
for  the  fight  was  hopeless. 

"I've  got  you  slated  for  prosecuting-attorney," 
Rollins  said  to  Hicks. 

"Prosecuting-attorney!"  Hicks  exclaimed.  "Isn't 
there  a  Judge  to  be  named?" 

"Yes,"  said  Rollins,  "but  another  man  has  been 
named  for  that.  You  take  the  prosecuting-attorney 
nomination.  That  will  give  you  an  opportunity  to 
go  out  in  the  towns  and  get  acquainted  with  the 
farmers.  It's  a  county  office,  you  know." 

Hicks  reluctantly  consented.  He  was  firmly  of 
the  opinion  his  services  to  the  Democracy  of  Rex- 
town  and  the  surrounding  country  entitled  him  to 
nomination  for  the  highest  office  within  gift  of  the 
people  at  that  time,  but  Rollins  had  picked  an  older 


156  THE    FAKERS 

lawyer,  with  a  war  record,  for  the  place,  and  Hicks 
subsided,  not  without  much  inward  protest. 

Enough  delegates  were  rounded  up  to  make  a 
convention  possible,  and  Rollins  called  the  gathering 
to  order  at  the  appointed  time.  It  was  a  listless 
convocation  of  the  Democrats  of  the  county,  who 
faced  certain  and  overwhelming  defeat,  and  knew 
it.  Rollins,  had  asked  Hicks  to  get  ready  for  a 
speech  and  after  the  formalities  attending  the  nomi 
nation  of  the  ticket  were  hurried  through,  Rollins 
said:  "Fellow-Democrats  and  gentlemen  of  the 
convention!  I  now  take  great  pleasure  in  intro 
ducing  to  you  a  sterling  young  Democrat  who  has 
recently  come  to  our  city,  a  man  who  believes  in 
the  ultimate  triumph  of  Democratic  principles,  who 
holds  Thomas  Jefferson  to  be  our  greatest  American 
and  whom  you  have  just  nominated  for  the  important 
office  of  prosecuting-attorney.  Mr.  T.  Marmaduke 
Hicks,  of  Rextown,  will  now  address  you." 

Tommie  had  felt  he  should  dress  himself  in  his 
frock-coat  and  wear  his  high  hat,  but  Rollins  told 
him  not  to.  So  he  came  in  a  sack-coat,  wearing  a 
soft  hat.  As  Rollins  pronounced  his  name  he 
stepped  forward  on  the  stage  and  bowed.  There 
were  a  few  scattering  handclaps.  Some  of  the 
men  in  the  rear  of  the  hall  started  to  go  out. 

"Fellow-Democrats,"  Tommie  began,  "I  trust 
you  will  bear  with  me  while  I  give  to  you  my  brief 
message.  While  these  are  times  of  dull  despair 
for  our  party,  I  am  one  who  has  his  face  turned 
toward  the  morning  and  I  can  confidently  assert  to 
you  that  every  cloud  has  a  silver  lining,  that  the 
night  is  darkest  just  before  the  dawn,  and  that  there 
is  no  lane  without  a  turning.  Fellow-Democrats, 
truth  is  mighty  and  must  prevail.  As  the  poet  has 
it:  'Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold,  and  wrong  for 
ever  on  the  throne' ;  and,  as  you  all  know,  the 


THE    FAKERS  157 

minority  is  always  right.  These  are  times  of  stress. 
The  very  foundations  of  our  country  are  threatened 
by  the  insidious  underminings  of  the  corrupt  in 
fluences  that  have  control  of  the  Republican  party." 

"That's  the  stuff,"  shouted  Rollins, 

Hicks  spoke  for  twenty  minutes.  He  had 
schooled  himself  in  his  piece,  had  practiced  it  be 
fore  his  looking-glass  in  his  room,  and  knew  it 
by  heart.  He  was  full  of  confidence,  threw  in  every 
gesture  he  had  ever  seen  a  platform  orator  use, 
and  ran  his  voice  up  and  down  its  register  with 
amazing  results  that  were  whoops  at  one  time  and 
whispers  at  the  other.  He  stamped  his  foot,  waved 
his  clenched  fists  in  the  air,  and  walked  from  one 
side  of  the  stage  to  the  other.  When  he  had  fin 
ished  sweat  was  dripping  from  his  forehead,  but 
his  voice  continued  strong  and  his  peroration  could 
have  been  heard  as  far  as  the  city  hall. 

Two  bored  reporters  watched  him  with  much 
amusement.  As  Hicks  finished  he  looked  anxiously 
at  the  reporters.  He  had  noticed,  as  he  was  talk 
ing,  that  they  were  making  no  notes  of  his  speech. 

"Did  you  take  it  down?"  he  asked  anxiously, 
leaning  over  to  the  table  where  the  reporters  sat. 
"I  can  give  you  copies  of  it." 

"We've  got  some  of  it,"  fibbed  one  of  them 
graciously. 

The  convention  adjourned  and  some  of  the  county 
delegates  congratulated  Tommie.  The  old  man 
said  he  was  glad  to  find  there  were  still  young 
men  in  this  degenerate  age  who  had  the  courage  to 
fight  the  forces  of  corruption  in  politics  and  faith 
to  speak  what  was  within  them.  The  papers  made 
brief  mention  of  the  convention,  gave  the  list  of 
nominations  and  said  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks  ad 
dressed  the  delegates.  Tommie  almost  cried  when 
he  saw  no  reports  were  made  of  his  speech.  "But," 


158  THE    FAKERS 

he  consoled  himself,  "the  time  will  come  when  they 
will  print  what  I  have  to  say  on  the  front  page." 

Financed  by  Rollins,  who  gave  him  money  for 
livery  rigs  and  for  his  meals  at  the  country  hotels, 
Tommie  traveled  all  through  the  county,  speaking 
at  school-houses  and  wherever  he  could  get  a  few 
people  together.  It  was  discouraging  work.  Most 
of  those  who  came  to  hear  him  were  Republicans, 
and  they  jeered  at  him,  but  he  stuck  to  his  job,  and 
by  the  time  the  campaign  was  over  could  make  a 
resounding  speech,  full  of  allusions  to  the  corrup 
tions  of  the  Republicans  and  filled  with  promise 
for  better  days  if  the  Democrats  were  put  in  power. 
He  took  up  affairs  under  the  Republican  prosecuting- 
attorney,  charged  that  official  with  dereliction  of 
duty,  with  gross  favoritism,  with  grafting  and  with 
about  everything  else,  and  promised  a  clean,  capable, 
honest  administration  of  the  office  and  the  relentless 
prosecution  of  all  criminals,  whether  of  high  or 
low  degree,  if  he  were  elected. 

Also  he  did  his  first  house-to-house,  or  rather, 
farm-to-farm,  canvassing.  He  wore  his  oldest  suit 
of  clothes,  let  his  shoes  remain  unpolished,  was  hail- 
fellow-well-met  with  the  farmers,  ate  with  them 
when  he  could,  was  elaborately  polite  and  flattering 
to  the  women,  took  part  in  prayer  meetings  in  the 
churches,  and  descanted  continuously  on  the  neces 
sity  for  getting  back  to  the  soil  and  the  rugged 
honesty  of  the  agriculturalist  as  opposed  to  the 
scheming,  contriving  dishonesty  of  the  city  dweller. 

He  put  in  the  last  week  of  his  campaign  in  the 
city,  where  he  dressed  with  scrupulous  care,  making 
up  as  he  thought  a  clean-cut,  alert,  young  prose- 
cuting-attorney  should  look.  He  spoke  every  night, 
sometimes  on  the  street  corners  and  once  or  twice 
at  pitifully  small  rallies.  His  opponents  took  no 
notice  of  him,  and  the  papers  joshed  him  a  little, 


THE    FAKERS  159 

and  reported  none  of  his  speeches.  The  campaign 
was  neither  exciting  nor  interesting.  Its  result  was 
foregone.  Tommie  ran  a  little  ahead  of  the  rest 
of  the  ticket,  but  was  overwhelmingly  beaten. 

Rollins  told  him  he  had  done  well.  Tommie 
thought  so,  too.  He  had  learned  how  to  cam 
paign,  in  a  way.  Also,  he  had  spread  the  knowl 
edge  among  the  countrymen  that  he  wras  a  young 
man  of  correct  deportment,  a  church  member,  and 
that  he  neither  drank  nor  smoked.  He  never  for 
a  moment  let  down  on  his  pose  of  being  the  friend 
of  the  people,  and  he  considered  he  had  sown  good 
seed.  Besides,  it  hadn't  cost  him  anything.  Rol 
lins  had  furnished  the  money,  and  Tommie  made 
Mrs.  Hungerford  deduct  for  the  meals  he  didn't 
have  when  he  was  campaigning  in  the  country. 

His  campaign  had  attracted  some  attention  among 
the  lawyers.  They  talked  about  him.  Chittlings 
was  especially  kind  in  his  comment.  "It's  all  right," 
he  said,  "if  that  is  the  game  you  are  going  to  play 
you  have  got  to  start  it  that  way.  Keep  at  it,  and 
you  may  win  out  some  day  if  a  pestilence  blows 
along  and  kills  a  few  thousand  Republicans  and 
passes  by  the  Democrats." 

A  little  law  business  came  to  him  as  the  result 
of  his  campaign.  He  was  one  of  the  leading  figures 
at  a  Union  Thanksgiving  celebration  where  the 
Methodists,  Baptists,  and  Presbyterians  joined  in  a 
service  on  the  night  before  that  festival  at  Tommie's 
church.  He  made  an  address  on  "The  Necessity  of 
Brotherly  Cooperation"  which  was  pronounced  very 
fine  by  those  who  heard  it  and  which  was  mentioned 
for  a  quarter  of  a  column  or  so  in  the  papers. 

He  was  active  in  the  Christmas  celebration  at  his 
church,  and  a  day  or  two  before  the  end  of  the 
year  was  asked  by  Chittlings  to  come  up  and  see 
him. 


160  THE    FAKERS 

"You've  had  plenty  of  time  to  think  that  prop 
osition  over,"  said  Chittlings.  "How  do  you  feel 
about  it?" 

"But,  Mr.  Chittlings,"  Hicks  replied,  "you  never 
have  made  a  definite  proposition  as  yet." 

"Well,  I'll  make  one  now.  I'll  take  you  into 
partnership,  give  you  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the 
gross  receipts  and  charge  no  expense  to  you  except 
rent  for  one  office-room;  you  to  bring  in  all  the 
business  you  can  and  so  will  I.  I  will  look  after 
the  legal  end  of  it,  although  you  can  make  the 
necessary  bluff,  and  you'll  continue  to  play  your 
Democratic  game  while  I  take  the  other  end  of  the 
politics  of  the  combination.  How  does  that  strike 
you  for  the  first  year?" 

"I  don't  relish  your  continual  reference  to  my 
playing  a  game.  I  am  sincere  in  these  matters,  Mr. 
Chittlings." 

"So  much  the  better.  I  always  respect  sincerity, 
especially  when  I  find  it  in  such  large  quantities. 
How  does  it  hit  you?" 

"What  is  to  be  the  name  and  style  of  the  firm?" 

Chittlings  glanced  at  him  in  astonishment.  "Chit 
tlings  and  Hicks,  of  course,"  he  replied. 

Tommie  looked  Chittlings  squarely  in  the  eye. 
"I  thinks  Hicks  and  Chittlings  would  be  more  ap 
propriate,  provided  I  enter  into  this  compact  with 
you,"  he  said  steadily. 

"Wow  !"  exclaimed  Chittlings.  "Great  aro-mat-ic 
spirits  of  ammonia  !"  Then  he  roared  with  laughter. 

"Son,"  he  gasped,  "you'll  do,  you  will  ab-so- 
lute-ly  do !  I'll  make  that  thirty  per  cent.  Come 
up  to-morrow  and  sign  the  papers." 

Hicks  salved  his  wounded  feelings  with  the  extra 
five  per  cent,  offered  by  Chittlings,  and  signed  a 
partnership  arrangement  for  a  term  of  one  year, 
with  a  privilege  of  renewal  or  dissolution  on  notice 


THE    FAKERS  161 

by  either  partner  at  the  end  of  the  minth  month. 
He  gave  up  his  office  and  moved  down  to  the  suite 
occupied  by  Chittlings.  The  firm's  name  was  put 
on  the  door  as  "Chittlings  and  Hicks,  Attorneys  at 
Law,"  and  it  was  many  a  day  before  Hicks  could 
look  at  it  without  the  feeling  that,  by  all  the  merits  in 
the  case,  it  should  read  Flicks  and  Chittlings.  Hicks 
was  much  elated  over  his  new  office  surroundings. 
He  had  a  good-sized  room  cut  off  from  the  very 
large  room  formerly  occupied  by  Chittlings  by  a 
ground  glass  partition.  "Mr.  Hicks"  was  chastely 
painted  on  his  door.  He  thought  the  door  should 
be  labeled  "Mr.  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,"  but  Chit- 
lings  told  him  it  was  much  niftier  to  have  it  just 
"Mr.  Hicks";  gave  class,  he  said.  There  was  a 
stenographer,  the  first  one  Hicks  ever  had  at  his 
disposal,  and  he  dictated  reams  of  letters  to  that 
outraged  person,  many  of  them  letters  he  never  sent 
and  never  intended  to  send.  But  he  wanted  to  im 
press  the  stenographer.  No  person  was  too 
humble,  in  the  opinion  of  Hicks,  to  be  inculcated, 
by  word  or  deed,  with  the  transcendent  abilities  of 
T.  Marmaduke  Hicks. 


CHAPTER    XX 

THE  municipal  election  to  be  held  in  Rex- 
town   that   spring   was   unusually   impor 
tant.     The  street-car  company,  which  op 
erated  all  the  cars  in  the  city,  was  about 
to  make  an  application  for  an  extension 
of  its  franchise  and  a  renewal  on  most  favorable 
terms — for  the  company.     The  Chronicle,  inspired 
by  Rollins,  had  opposed  any  extension  unless  there 
should  be  certain  concessions.     The   Chronicle  de 
manded  universal  transfers,  better  cars,   improved 
service  and  a  three  per  cent,  tax  on  gross  earnings 
for  the  benefit  of  the  city.     Naturally,  the  street 
car  company  was  opposed  to  all  this,  vigorously  and 
bitterly  opposed. 

The  street-car  company  was  close  to  the  Repub 
lican  organization.  It  controlled  the  board  of 
aldermen,  through  Boss  Ross's  organization,  for 
the  aldermen  were  almost  all  Republicans.  There 
had  been  an  attempt  to  shove  the  franchise  matter 
through  the  board  that  was  to  go  out  of  office  in 
April,  but  the  Chronicle  made  such  a  row  about  it 
that  the  street-car  magnates  and  the  Republican  boss 
decided  it  would  be  just  as  well  to  wait  until  a 
new  board  was  selected  and  do  it  then.  They  were 
sure  they  could  elect  a  majority  no  matter  what  the 
issue  was,  and  would  then  put  the  franchise  through 
in  an  orderly  manner  and  claim  the  people  had 
spoken  on  the  matter  and  they  were  simply  bowing 
to  the  will  of  the  voters  and  taxpayers. 

162 


THE    FAKERS  163 

Rollins,  who,  despite  his  fondness  for  political 
letter-writing  and  his  dreaming,  was  a  shrewd  poli 
tician,  saw  an  opportunity  here.  He  had  no  interest 
in  the  street-car  company,  and  hated  all  the  directors 
and  managers  thereof,  for  they  were  all  Republicans. 
He  knew  the  people — as  the  people  always  are — 
were  of  the  opinion  that  the  street-car  company  was 
robbing  them,  depriving  them  of  accommodations 
they  were  entitled  to,  and  he  further  knew  the  three 
per  cent,  tax  to  be  paid  into  the  city  treasury  was  a 
strong  inducement  for  votes  against  aldermen  who 
would  be  inclined  to  grant  the  franchise  extensions 
without  that  feature  included  in  them.  When  it 
was  intimated  that  the  street-car  company  intended 
to  jam  the  extended  franchise  through  the  old  board 
of  aldermen  instead  of  waiting  for  the  new  he 
promptly  let  loose  a  broadside  in  the  Chronicle  say 
ing  he  would  go  to  the  courts  if  they  did,  enjoin 
them,  and  fight  them  to  the  last,  inasmuch  as  the 
franchise  matter  properly  came  within  the  jurisdic 
tion  of  the  new  board,  or  Rollins  held  it  did,  which 
amounted  to  the  same  thing  in  the  circumstances. 
He  had  strong  popular  support  for  this. 

William  P.  Roscoe,  president  of  the  street-car 
company,  sought  Boss  Paddy  Ross,  of  the  Repub 
lican  organization. 

"Paddy,"  he  said,  "that  old  grand-stander,  Rol 
lins,  is  making  a  good  deal  of  a  row  over  the  fran 
chise  matter." 

"It  won't  amount  to  nothin',''  assured  Ross. 

"I  don't  know  about  that.  The  people  are  all 
in  line  to  oppose  us  at  any  time  or  place.  I'm 
afraid  we  waited  too  long.  We  should  have 
jammed  it  through  the  present  board." 

"Now,  Roscoe,"  counseled  Ross,  "don't  you  get 
cold  feet.  I  told  you  I  will  elect  a  board  of  alder 
men  and  a  mayor  that  will  give  you  the  right  to 


1 64  THE    FAKERS 

make  a  power-house  out  of  the  city  hall  if  you 
want  to,  and  I'm  going  to  do  it.  Just  leave  this 
to  me." 

"But  there  is  a  great  deal  of  agitation." 

"I  know  it,  and  there'll  be  a  lot  more  before 
there  is  any  less,  but  it's  the  votes  on  election  day 
that  count  and  I'll  have  them.  Don't  you  worry. 
I'll  pull  you  through  this  just  as  I  always  have. 
Let  Rollins  howl.  I'll  produce  on  election  day 
and  I'll  produce  a  set  of  highbinders  for  aldermen 
that  will  give  you  Main  Street  for  a  pleasure  park 
if  I  say  the  word." 

Roscoe  left.  He  was  nervous.  This  nervous 
ness  increased  as  Rollins  renewed  his  attacks,  and 
the  Chronicle  kept  pounding.  He  went  to  Ross 
again,  but  was  told  to  sit  steadily,  attend  to  his 
street-car  business,  and  all  would  be  well. 

Rollins  had  talked  with  Hicks  about  the  cam 
paign  he  was  making,  and  Hicks  was  enlisted  in  the 
fight.  Chittlings  advised  Hicks  to  keep  off,  for 
business  reasons,  but  Hicks  couldn't  and  wouldn't. 
He  saw  unlimited  opportunities  for  speech-making 
in  which  he  could  attack  the  street-car  octopus — 
he  had  resolved  to  call  it  an  octopus — and  declaim 
passionately  for  the  rights  of  the  poor,  down 
trodden  workingmen,  who  were  defrauded  by  be 
ing  deprived  of  universal  transfers  and  who  had 
poor  service  for  their  hard-earned  nickels.  He 
urged  Rollins  to  demand  a  three-cent  fare,  but  Rol 
lins  thought  that  too  radical,  and  refused. 

"Hicks,"  said  Rollins,  "this  is  our  chance.  We 
have  an  opening  now.  If  we  put  up  good,  clean 
men,  as  many  of  them  Democrats  as  possible,  but 
with  a  few  independents  to  give  the  ticket  a  non- 
partisan  flavor,  we  can  win  the  whole  shooting- 
match,  mayor  and  all." 


THE    FAKERS  165 

"So  I  think,"  assented  Hicks.  "The  people  will 
rally  to  me  as  their  candidate  for  mayor." 

"As  their  candidate  for  what?"  exclaimed  Rol 
lins. 

"Their  candidate  for  mayor." 

"But  you're  not  going  to  be  their  candidate  for 
mayor." 

"Why  not?"  demanded  Hicks.  "In  view  of  all 
my  sacrifices  for  the  party  I  surely  am  entitled  to 
this  small  recognition  at  this  time." 

"You  are  not,"  said  Rollins,  firmly.  "You  are 
to  be  the  candidate  for  alderman  in  the  Seventh 
Ward." 

"But "  began  Hicks. 

"Oh,"  Rollins  interrupted,  "you  can  speak  all 
over  the  city.  It  will  be  a  good  chance  for  you." 

Hicks  tried  several  times  to  convince  Rollins  he 
was  the  logical  candidate  for  mayor.  Rollins  would 
not  allow  it,  and  when  he  saw  he  must  take  the 
nomination  for  alderman  of  the  Seventh  Ward  or 
nothing,  Hicks  sulkily  consented;  but  he  announced 
his  candidacy  for  alderman  in  an  interview  in  the 
Chronicle,  hastening  to  the  office  to  get  it  in  print 
for  fear  Rollins  might  change  his  mind. 

"Going  into  it,  I  see,"  said  Chittlings  after  he 
had  read  the  Chronicle  interview,  in  which  Hicks 
had  made  vigorous  denunciation  of  the  street-car 
octopus — he  thought  octopus  looked  fine,  and  had 
used  it  several  times.  He  wasn't  quite  clear  what 
an  octopus  wras,  but  said  the  street  car  company 
was  one,  sucking  the  life-blood  from  the  poor,  down 
trodden  workingman.  Later  he  learned  about  oc- 
topi,  and  cut  out  the  blood-sucking  feature,  using 
that  only  when,  for  a  change,  he  referred  to  the 
company  as  a  vampire,  which,  he  had  been  in 
formed,  are  artists  at  blood-sucking. 

"I  am,"  Hicks  replied. 


1 66  THE    FAKERS 

"Well,  good  luck;  only  keep  it  clear  from  the 
law  business,  and  watch  out  you  don't  get  your 
fingers  burned.  Paddy  Ross  is  a  very  capable  citi 
zen,  you  know." 

"I  am  not  afraid  of  Paddy  Ross  and  his  hench 
men  when  I  have  the  people  on  my  side,"  declaimed 
Hicks. 

"You  may  have  the  people  on  your  side,"  laughed 
Chittlings,  "but  you  will  have  Paddy  Ross  on  your 
neck,  and  that  will  be  uncomfortable — for  you." 

The  city  conventions  were  held  and  Hicks  was 
nominated  as  the  Democratic  reform  candidate  for 
alderman  from  the  Seventh  Ward.  The  campaign, 
which  had  three  weeks  to  run,  began  immediately. 
The  two  afternoon  papers  and  the  Leader,  in  the 
morning,  upheld  the  regular  Republican  ticket, 
which  was  favorable  to  the  street-car  company,  and 
pointed  out  the  great  benefits  that  had  come  to  Rex- 
town  through  the  liberal,  public-spirited  policy  of 
the  company,  how  it  had  millions  invested  and  how 
it  had  developed  the  suburbs  by  the  extensions  of 
its  lines.  Statistics,  prepared  by  the  company,  were 
printed  showing  a  small  per  cent,  of  earnings  com 
pared  to  the  expenses  of  operation.  Promises  were 
made  of  a  liberal  future  policy  if  the  franchise  ex 
tensions  were  granted. 

Rollins  was  in  his  element.  For  the  first  time 
he  had  a  fight  with  a  chance  to  win.  The  Chronicle 
stood  sturdily  behind  the  Democratic  reform  ticket, 
which  was  made  up  of  excellent  men,  and  the  people 
(as  the  people  always  are)  were  in  favor  of  giving 
the  street-car  company  nothing  and  of  getting  free 
rides  if  possible. 

Hicks  and  Rollins  organized  a  series  of  noonday 
meetings  in  a  vacant  store  on  Main  Street,  and 
Hicks,  and  other  orators,  spoke  every  night  in  vari 
ous  parts  of  the  city.  Hicks  turned  himself  loose. 


THE    FAKERS  167 

He  attacked  the  street  car  company  from  every  an 
gle.  He  wept  copiously  over  the  woes  of  the  work- 
ingman.  He  pledged  himself  a  hundred  times  each 
twenty-four  hours  to  fight  for  the  common  people 
should  he  be  elected,  and  he  plainly  told  the  street 
car  company  it  need  expect  no  favors  at  his  hands. 
He  was  in  favor  of  municipal  ownership  for  public 
utilities,  and  he  dragged  in  his  three-cent  fare  idea 
and  was  always  applauded. 

He  had  an  apparent  earnestness  and  sincerity  that 
caught  the  crowd.  He  had  a  flow  of  language  that 
had  not  an  argument  in  it,  but  that  was  denuncia 
tory  to  the  extreme  limit.  Fie  called  the  street  car 
magnates  wolves  and  plutocrats  with  no  other  plan 
than  to  bloat  their  fortunes  with  riches  extorted 
from  the  poor,  downtrodden  workingman.  He 
flayed  Roscoe  on  every  corner,  and  he  tore  into 
Paddy  Ross  as  the  most  notorious  example  extant 
of  the  corrupt  political  boss.  He  warned  the  peo 
ple  they  need  expect  nothing  but  confiscation  of  their 
streets,  and  an  ultimate  ten  or  fifteen-cent  fare  if 
the  Republicans  won,  and  he  never  failed  to  allude 
to  himself  as  the  gallant  young  crusader  who  would 
bring  peace  and  plenty,  three-cent  fares  and  univer 
sal  transfers;  a  seat  for  every  passenger,  more  cars 
for  the  rush  hours,  and  special  reduced  rates  for 
school  children  if  he  were  elected. 

Toward  the  last  his  speeches  fell  into  three  parts. 
The  first  was  a  denunciation  of  the  street  car  com 
pany;  the  second  was  a  particularized  assault  on  Ros 
coe;  the  third,  and  by  far  the  longest  section,  was 
promises  of  what  he,  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  would 
do,  with  explanations,  at  great  length,  showing  how 
eminently  he  was  fitted  to  carry  out  his  promise,  in 
tellectually,  morally  and  by  reason  of  his  vast  in 
tegrity  and  his  enormous  desire  to  help  the  work 
ingman. 


i68  THE    FAKERS 

Paddy  Ross  had  many  orators  out,  and  he  kept 
busily  at  his  inside  work.  At  first  he  was  confident 
he  would  win.  Then  he  discovered  the  people  were 
much  aroused,  and  the  talk  of  Hicks  and  his  fellows 
on  the  Democratic  reform  ticket  was  having  its  ef 
fect,  especially  in  the  Fourth,  the  Ninth,  the  Tenth 
and  the  Sixteenth  Wards,  where  most  of  the  work- 
ingmen  lived  who  were  employed  in  the  big  factories 
and  mills  on  the  lower  side  of  the  town.  As  Rex- 
town  lay,  the  factories  were  on  one  side,  along  a 
small  stream  that  their  local  pride  called  a  river, 
and  the  workingmen  lived  across  town  from  them, 
in  the  wards  enumerated,  went  to  their  work  in  the 
street  cars  in  the  morning  and  returned  to  their 
homes  at  night,  going  across  town  again.  The  city 
was  loosely  built,  and  it  took  almost  half  an  hour 
for  the  workingmen  in  these  outside  wards  to  get 
from  their  homes  to  the  factories  and  mills,  and  half 
an  hour  to  get  home  at  night,  for  the  car  service 
was  none  too  good.  The  consequence  was  that  the 
early  morning  cars  were  crowded  and  the  cars  re 
turning  at  six  o'clock  jammed. 

"How  does  it  look,  Paddy?"  Roscoe  asked  at  the 
beginning  of  the  third  and  last  week  of  the  city  cam 
paign. 

"Not  so  good  as  it  might.  That  young  wind 
jammer,  Hicks,  is  making  a  lot  of  headway  with 
these  workingmen,  and  there  are  a  good  many  votes 
against  us  in  the  middle  of  the  town." 

"But  you  can  hold  them,  can't  you?" 

"I  can  hold  the  middle  wards,  all  right.  I'm 
afraid  of  those  wards  where  the  workingmen  live  in 
numbers — the  Fourth,  Ninth,  Tenth  and  Sixteenth." 

"We've  got  a  week  before  election.  Can't  we 
shove  the  franchise  extension  through  the  board  at 
the  meeting  to-morrow  night?" 

"If  we  did,"  said  Ross,  "they'd  tear  us  up  by  the 


THE    FAKERS  169 

roots.  We've  got  to  win  this  by  votes.  Don't 
worry.  I'll  have  'em,  all  right.  The  only  trouble 
is  with  those  wards  out  on  the  edge  of  town,  and 
they've  got  a  grouch  for  fair." 

Roscoe  went  away  much  perturbed.  He  stopped 
in  at  one  of  the  noon-day  meetings  and  heard  Hicks 
say  things  to  an  applauding  crowd  about  Roscoe  fat 
tening  on  the  nickels  wrung  from  the  grimy  hands 
of  toil  that  made  him  feel  like  shooting  that  per- 
fervid  young  man.  Hicks  saw  him  and  shouted: 

"There  he  is!  There  he  is,  this  arrogant  pluto 
crat  who  seeks  to  debauch  the  electorate  of  this 
city  by  electing  to  the  board  of  aldermen  servile  and 
corrupt  tools  of  Paddy  Ross  to  do  his  bidding  and 
rob  the  poor  workingman  of  the  hard-earned  fruits 
of  his  honest  toil  by  extorting  from  him  money 
grudgingly  paid  to  him  by  others  of  his  ilk — these 
plutocrats  who  ride  in  their  automobiles  while  the 
poor  workingman  must  crowd  into  their  dirty,  ill- 
smelling  street  cars  or  walk,  with  weary  limbs,  from 
his  humble  home  to  the  factories  where  they  chain 
him  to  his  bench  in  order  that  they  may  bloat  and 
fatten  on  the  results  of  his  honest  industry." 

Roscoe  fled,  followed  by  jeers.  He  was  much  up 
set  when  he  reached  his  office.  "Jenkins,"  he  said 
to  the  general  manager,  "have  you  heard  the  things 
that  young  demagogue,  Hicks,  is  saying  about  me." 

"Yes,"  Jenkins  replied. 

"Well,  what  are  we  going  to  do  about  it?" 

"There's  nothing  we  can  do,  but  trust  to  Paddy 
Ross,  so  far  as  I  can  see." 

"It's  terrible,"  moaned  Roscoe,  "simply  terrible! 
Why,  I  heard  him  to-day  and  he  called  me  a  vam 
pire  and  a  blood-sucker  and  an  octopus  and  I  don't 
know  what  else." 

"Is  that  all  he  said?"  asked  Jenkins.  "Evidently 
you  didn't  hear  him  when  he  was  in  good  form." 


CHAPTER    XXI 

THE  excitement  increased  as  the  week 
progressed.  By  Wednesday  Paddy  Ross 
was  shaky  in  his  own  mind  over  the  out 
come  and  his  shakiness  increased  when 
the  results  of  his  final  poll  began  to  come 
in  on  Wednesday.  It  looked  like  a  close  election, 
with  a  ward  or  two  to  decide  it.  Paddy  was  sure 
of  carrying  seven  wards,  and  gave  the  opposition 
four  sure,  and  that  left  five  to  fight  for.  He  must 
have  nine  men  to  control  the  board.  He  had  held 
a  certain  proportion  of  the  voters  in  the  outside 
wards,  and  was  working  desperately  in  the  wards 
in  the  center  of  the  town,  where  the  big  business 
interests  were  arrayed  for  the  street  car  company, 
and  where  the  better  classes  of  Republicans  lived. 
He  felt  he  must  do  something  to  pull  back  the 
Fourth,  Ninth,  Tenth  and  Sixteenth.  If  the  oppo 
sition  lost  those  they  couldn't  win.  He  sent  money 
there,  and  put  his  strongest  workers  in  the  factories 
and  mills  to  persuade  the  workingmen  who  lived  in 
those  wards  to  be  reasonable.  The  street  car  com 
pany  put  on  many  extra  cars,  on  the  cross-town  lines, 
and  saw  to  it  that  every  man  had  a  seat.  The  work 
ingmen  were  excited.  Hicks  and  his  allies  had 
stirred  them  exceedingly.  Rollins  kept  steadily 
pounding  through  the  columns  of  the  Chronicle,  and 
had  boys  at  the  corners  in  these  wards  every  morn 
ing,  who  gave  each  workingman  a  free  copy  of  the 
Chronicle,  containing  the  Rollins  broadsides. 

170 


THE    FAKERS  171 

Ross  was  worried.  Roscoe  was  frantic.  Rollins 
and  Hicks  were  jubilant.  On  Wednesday,  after  his 
noon-day  meeting,  when  he  had  been  especially  in 
flammatory  in  his  speech,  and  had  been  loudly 
cheered,  Hicks  ate  a  sandwich  and  drank  a  glass  of 
milk  and  went  to  his  office  to  rest.  The  office  was 
empty.  The  stenographer  was  out  at  lunch  and  so 
was  the  clerk.  He  was  tired.  The  strain  was  be 
ginning  to  tell  on  him,  although  the  tonic  of  the  ap 
plause,  which  he  loved,  chirked  him  up  each  time 
after  he  began  talking.  He  removed  his  coat,  locked 
the  door  of  his  room  and  leaned  back  in  his  chair. 
He  was  dozing  when  he  heard  Chittlings  come  in, 
accompanied  by  another  man. 

"Nobody  here,"  said  Chittlings.  "I  suppose  that 
young  partner  of  mine  is  out  stirring  them  up." 

"He's  a  fine  partner  for  you  to  have,"  said  the 
other  man.  "How'd  you  come  to  pick  him  out." 

Hicks  could  hear  the  talk;  he  listened  for  Chit- 
tlings's  reply. 

"Oh,  he's  all  right.  I  can  use  him  in  my  busi 
ness.  He'll  get  over  this,  but  he's  raising  merry 
hob  at  this  juncture,  isn't  he?" 

"I  should  say  he  is,"  said  the  other  man  bitterly. 

Chittlings  spoke  again.     "Well,  Jenkins " 

Jenkins !  The  general  manager  of  the  street  car 
company.  Hicks  moved  noiselessly  over  to  the 
ground-glass  partition  between  his  room  and  that  of 
Chittlings.  He  strained  his  ears  to  hear. 

"Well,  Jenkins,  you're  in  a  mess.  I'll  say  that 
for  you.  Unless  you  can  pull  something  off  in  those 
outside  wards  you  may  get  whipped." 

"Pull  something  off?"  replied  Jenkins  querulously. 
"What  the  hell  can  we  pull  off?  We've  done  every 
thing  anybody  has  suggested  and  we've  simply  up 
holstered  Paddy  Ross  with  money,  and  he's  scared 


1 72  THE    FAKERS 

stiff  right  now  over  the  outlook.  What  do  you 
want  to  talk  to  me  about?" 

"My  dear  Jenkins,"  said  Chittlings  suavely,  "I 
asked  you  to  come  in  and  confer  with  me  because 
it  appeals  to  me  that  for  the  general  manager  of 
a  great  public  service  corporation  you  display  a  lack 
of  resources  that  is  amazing." 

"What  would  you  do,  Mr.  Wiseheimer?"  asked 
Jenkins  with  a  sneer. 

"Far  be  it  from  me  to  assume  to  instruct  you  in 
your  business,  Mr.  Jenkins,"  continued  Chittlings 
pleasantly.  "Not  for  the  world  would  I  think  I 
could  do  that,  not  for  the  world.  Only  if  I  was 
general  manager  of  the  street  car  company  I  know 
what  I  would  do." 

"What  would  you  do?"  asked  Jenkins  excitedly. 
"What  would  you  do?" 

"Softly,  my  dear  Jenkins,  softly,"  said  Chittlings 
soothingly.  "Be  calm.  First  and  foremost,  of 
course,  I  am  under  the  rather  pressing  necessity  of 
inquiring  what  would  a  plan  such  as  I  have  in  mind 
be  worth  to  your  aggregation  of  octopuses,  as  my 
partner  dubs  you?" 

"Any  amount  of  money  if  it  works,"  Jenkins  ex 
claimed. 

"That  is  rather  indefinite,  don't  you  think,  Jen 
kins,  in  these  days  of  hard,  precise  commercial  trans 
actions?  Any  amount  now  might  dwindle  to  a  very 
insignificant  amount  after  election.  Besides,"  and 
Chittlings's  voice  grew  almost  caressing,  "I  didn't 
ask  you  for  money.  You  jumped  at  a  wrong  con 
clusion,  but,  I  suppose,"  and  he  laughed,  "you  are 
so  used  to  buying  protection  you  think  that  is  the 
only  way  you  can  get  it." 

"What  do  you  want,  then?"  asked  Jenkins  sus 
piciously. 

"Would  it  surprise  you  if  I  told  you  I  have  noth- 


THE    FAKERS  173 

ing  but  the  best  interests  of  the  company  at  heart?" 
asked  Chittlings. 

"It  would;  it  would  surprise  me  very  much,"  Jen 
kins  answered  harshly.  "But  get  down  to  business. 
What  do  you  want?" 

"A  very  small  return,  Jenkins,  a  very  small  re 
turn.  I  own  some  of  your  stock,  not  much,  but 
enough  to  qualify,  and  I  want  to  be  put  on  your 
board  of  directors  for  the  business  and  financial 
standing  that  it  will  give  me.  Also,  I  want  your 
promise  to  make  me  one  of  your  attorneys,  to  make 
me,  you  understand,  not  my  firm." 

Hicks,  listening  on  the  other  side  of  the  glass  par 
tition,  clenched  his  fists.  His  partner  intended  to 
leave  him  out  of  this  arrangement. 

"That's  a  good  deal,"  said  Jenkins. 

"A  good  deal."  and  Chittlings's  voice  hardened. 
"A  good  deal  when,  if  this  thing  goes  against  you 
you  will  have  to  spend,  at  the  very  least  calcula 
tion,  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  right  off  the  bat 
for  new  equipment,  for  extensions  of  your  lines,  and 
lose  a  lot  of  fares  because  of  the  universal  trans 
fers,  besides  the  increased  tax  you  must  pay.  It 
seems  to  me  a  very  modest  requirement — very  mod 
erate  indeed." 

"I  can't  put  you  on  the  board,"  parleyed  Jen 
kins. 

"Oh,  yes  you  can,  or,  you  can  have  Roscoe  put 
me  on,  with  the  aid  of  his  proxies,  at  the  next  an 
nual  meeting,  and  you  know  it." 

"Maybe  he  won't  do  it." 

"He  will  if  you  ask  him." 

"And  our  attorneys — 

"Oh,  quit  four-flushing  around  like  this,"  ex 
claimed  Chittlings.  "I'll  take  a  chance  if  you  will 
give  me  your  word,  and  call  Roscoe  in  to  make  it 
good." 


174  THE    FAKERS 

"Come  on  over  and  see  Roscoe,  then,  and  ex 
plain  it  to  him." 

"Bring  him  here,"  insisted  Chittlings.  "It's  only 
a  step  from  your  offices,  and  it's  safer  here." 

"That  damned  partner  of  yours  may  be  coming 
in." 

"No  danger;  he's  off  somewhere  taking  great 
pleasure  in  hearing  himself  rip  the  hides  off  you  and 
Roscoe." 

Hicks  heard  Jenkins  say  a  very  uncomplimentary 
and  profane  thing  about  himself,  and  smiled.  Jen 
kins  called  Roscoe  on  the  telephone  and  urged  him 
to  come  over.  Hicks  stood  back  in  the  corner  of 
his  room,  and  in  a  few  minutes  Roscoe  arrived. 
Chittlings  was  waiting  outside  for  him,  and  ushered 
him  into  his  office. 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Roscoe  brusquely. 

"Mr.  Chittlings  has  a  plan  whereby,  he  says,  we 
can  make  sure  to  win  the  elections  next  Tuesday." 

"What  is  it?" 

"But,"  continued  Jenkins,  "there  are  a  few  con 
ditions.  He  wants  to  go  on  our  board,  and  he  also 
desires  a  good  share  of  our  legal  business  for  him 
self." 

"Let's  hear  the  plan  and  we'll  decide  that  later." 

"Oh,  no,"  said  Chittlings.  "Decide  first  and  make 
a  memorandum  to  that  effect,  and  then  listen. 
You're  in  a  bad  way,  Mr.  Roscoe,  and  I  can  pull 
you  out.  Of  course,  if  I  do  not,  nothing  comes  of 
the  deal.'; 

"All  right,"  assented  Roscoe,  "it  can  be  ar 
ranged." 

"Write  a  line  asking  me  to  call  at  your  offices 
and  saying  you  desire  me  to  enter  your  employ  as 
one  of  your  legal  representatives;  say  the  question 
of  a  retainer  can  be  arranged  at  our  meeting.  I 
shan't  call  until  after  election,  and  if  you  get  beaten 


THE    FAKERS  175 

I'll  never  call.  The  board  business  can  be  arranged 
later." 

Hicks  heard  the  scratching  of  a  pen.  "There," 
said  Roscoe,  "is  that  satisfactory?" 

"It  is,"  Chittlings  answered,  after  a  pause. 

"Well,  what's  the  plan?" 

"A  simple  thing,"  said  Chittlings.  "All  you've 
got  to  do  is  to  have  some  sort  of  a  fake  accident 
at  your  power  house  on  the  afternoon  of  election 
day  and  tie  up  your  entire  system.  The  men  who 
do  the  bulk  of  the  voting  in  the  Fourth,  Ninth, 
Tenth  and  Sixteenth  wards  are  figuring  on  voting 
between  six  and  seven  at  night.  The  polls  close  at 
seven.  Paddy  Ross  has  the  machinery  and  he  can 
see  they  are  closed  sharp  on  the  dot.  Wreck  a 
dynamo,  or  bust  a  gazzisis  or  do  something  and 
shut  down  every  car.  They  won't  get  onto  it  for 
ten  or  fifteen  minutes  after  they  come  out  to  take 
the  cars,  and  by  the  time  they  have  walked  across 
not  enough  of  them  can  vote  to  carry  those  wards, 
for  P.  Ross  will  have  his  votes  in  early  and  his  elec 
tion  officials  in  the  booths  will  take  good  care  that 
the  votes  of  those  who  do  get  there  are  slowly  taken. 
The  polls  will  close  at  seven,  and  you  can  carry 
those  wards  and  win.  Almost  childish,  isn't  it,  Jen 
kins?  Wonder  you  hadn't  thought  of  it  yourself, 
but  like  all  business  men  you  do  your  political  think 
ing  by  proxy  and  I  happen  to  be  the  proxy  in  the 
present  instance." 

"Good!"  exclaimed  Roscoe,  "we  can  do  that.  It 
will  work,  too,  if  nobody  knows  of  it.  Why  didn't 
you  think  of  it,  Jenkins?" 

"Hold  on,"  broke  in  Jenkins,  trying  to  justify 
himself,  "hold  on  a  minute.  Election  day  is  a  holi 
day.  The  men  won't  be  in  the  factories." 

"For  Heaven's  sake,  Jenkins!"  and  Chittlings 
was  brutal  in  his  tone,  "do  you  know  any  politics  at 


176  THE    FAKERS 

all?  This  isn't  a  general  election  and  a  holiday  by 
law.  This  is  a  municipal  election,  and  no  holiday  at 
all  unless  individual  employees  want  to  make  it  so, 
and  you  can  see  to  it  that  they  do  not." 

The  three  went  out.  Hicks,  standing  against  the 
ground  glass  partition,  thought  hard.  The  plan 
would  work.  The  main  strength  of  the  fusionists 
was  in  those  four  wards,  and  the  men  couldn't  vote 
until  after  six  o'clock.  He  knew  the  employers 
wouldn't  shut  down  a  minute  before  six  o'clock  and 
the  polls  closed  at  seven.  Without  a  street  car  ser 
vice  they  couldn't  get  across  town  in  time  to  vote  in 
numbers  enough  to  carry  the  wards. 

His  first  impulse  was  to  tell  Rollins  about  it.  He 
started,  stopped  with  his  hand  on  the  door-knob, 
walked  slowly  back  to  his  chair  and  sat  down.  Chit- 
tlings  had  exacted  a  price  for  the  plan,  a  good  price, 
and  Hicks  had  been  amazed  at  the  eagerness  with 
which  Roscoe  and  Jenkins  had  snatched  at  this 
straw.  Evidently,  they  were  badly  frightened  over 
the  outcome  of  the  election. 

He  sat  for  an  hour  and  considered  the  situation. 
He  knew  he  could  make  a  sensation  by  exposing  the 
plot,  but  that  would  mean  nothing  to  him  but  a  pos 
sible  election  to  a  place  he  didn't  want,  except  for 
advertising  purposes,  and  he  had  about  all  the  ad 
vertising  he  could  get,  anyhow.  He  weighed  it  all 
carefully  in  his  mind.  He  saw  the  headlines  in  the 
Chronicle,  lauding  him  for  exposing  this  last  desper 
ate  expedient  of  the  plutocrats,  and  he  saw  the  head 
lines  in  the  other  papers  calling  it  a  roorbach  and 
him  a  fool.  Of  course,  if  he  exposed  the  plot  the 
street  car  company  wouldn't  dare  to  put  it  through, 
and  that  might  result  in  the  election  of  his  ticket. 
But  he  had  no  fancy  for  serving  as  an  alderman. 
He  wasn't  concerned  about  the  franchises  for  the 
company.  He  had  been  talking  to  exploit  Hicks, 


THE    FAKERS  177 

and  here  was  a  possible  chance  to  get  something  con 
crete  out  of  it — some  money,  perhaps. 

There  were  two  sides  to  it,  as  he  viewed  the  prob 
lem,  for  the  idea  of  making  no  use  at  all  of  the 
information  he  had  secured  by  eavesdropping,  never 
occurred  to  him.  He  could  withhold  the  news  of 
the  plot,  confiding  in  nobody  but  Rollins,  until 
Monday,  the  day  before  election,  when  he  could 
disclose  it  at  his  last  noon-day  meeting,  dramati 
cally  and  sensationally,  and  block  the  plan;  or  he 
could  do  as  Chittlings  had  done,  realize  on  it  from 
Roscoe  for  his  own  profit,  and  say  nothing.  There 
was  glory,  and  a  possible  election  to  a  minor  and 
laborious  place,  in  the  first  procedure,  and  there 
might  be  money  in  the  second.  He  liked  glory  and 
he  liked  money.  He  had  no  scruples  about  trying 
to  realize  on  his  information,  in  a  financial  way,  in 
case  that  seemed  to  be  the  best  thing  to  do,  for,  ac 
cording  to  his  lights  and  political  upbringings,  cor 
porations  were  legitimate  prey  for  men  in  politics, 
and  money  extorted  from  them  was  honest  graft. 
Corporations,  he  had  absorbed  in  Washington,  were 
to  be  milked  whenever  possible,  as  a  slight  recom 
pense,  to  the  politicians,  for  the  conferring  on  the 
corporations,  through  favorable  legislation,  the  priv 
ilege  of  milking  the  people.  It  seemed  to  him 
a  smart,  a  thoroughly  political  and  not  a  reprehen 
sible  thing  to  do  to  "shake  down"  a  corporation 
whenever  possible,  especially  such  a  corporation  as 
this  street  car  company  that  was  robbing  the  people 
every  day  and  desired  legalized  opportunities  for 
greater  robberies. 

He  debated  with  himself  whether,  in  the  long 
run,  it  would  be  more  profitable  to  him  to  extort 
money  from  Roscoe,  or  some  other  perquisite  of 
value,  for  his  information,  or  to  make  an  exposure, 
run  the  danger  of  losing  his  law  connection  with 


178  THE    FAKERS 

Chittlings,  with  the  great  gain  to  come  in  adver 
tising  and  public  acclaim.  He  knew  Rollins  would 
be  delighted,  and  could  see,  in  his  mind's  eye,  the 
way  that  earnest  antagonist  of  the  street  car  com 
pany  would  display  the  news  of  this  plot  in  the 
Chronicle. 

Several  times  he  decided  to  get  what  he  could 
out  of  it  from  Roscoe,  and  each  time  his  decision 
was  reversed  by  the  thought  of  the  sensation  he 
could  make  and  the  headlines  in  the  paper,  with  him 
self  as  the  central  figure  in  the  exposure  and 
destruction  of  this  startling  conspiracy.  His  fingers 
itched  for  money  and  his  vanity  clamored  for  pub 
licity.  He  worked  himself  into  a  fever  between  his 
doubt  and  his  desire,  remained  locked  in  his  office 
until  five  o'clock  wrestling  with  the  problem  with 
out  reaching  a  satisfactory  conclusion,  and  then  had 
an  inspiration. 

"By  George!"  he  exclaimed,  "I  know  what  I'll 
do.  I'll  ask  the  Senator." 

It  was  Wednesday  afternoon.  A  letter,  sent  on 
the  night  train,  would  get  to  Washington  late  on 
Friday.  He  could  address  it  to  the  Senator's  house, 
put  on  a  special  delivery  stamp,  and  be  reasonably 
sure  of  a  telegraphic  reply,  which  he  would  ask 
for,  by  Saturday  morning.  That  would  give  him  all 
Saturday  for  operation  on  Roscoe  should  the  Sen 
ator  advise  that,  and  if  he  advised  otherwise,  he 
could  tell  Rollins  and  get  ready  for  the  sensation 
on  Monday.  He  went  to  his  typewriter  and  wrote: 

"REXTOWN,  April  15,  1902. 
"Mv  DEAR  SENATOR: 

"You  have  always  been  willing  to  advise  with  me  hereto 
fore,  and  I  want  your  counsel  again.  I  am  in  a  dilemma. 
Briefly,  the  facts  are  these: 

"It  has  become  known  to  me,  absolutely,  that  the  street 
car  company,  against  which  we  are  fighting  in  the  municipal 


THE    FAKERS  179 

campaign  now  going  on,  has  a  plot  in  mind  which  will  dis 
franchise  the  bulk  of  the  voters  in  four  wards  where  the 
most  of  our  strength  is.  This  plan  was  of  sufficient  value 
to  the  corporation  to  induce  it  to  pay  handsomely  for  it. 

"Aside  from  three  principals,  I  am  the  only  person  in 
Rextown  who  knows  of  this  plot.  Now,  my  dilemma  is  this: 
Shall  1  use  this  information  to  destroy  the  plot  and  thereby 
help  our  side  win  and  get  a  lot  of  publicity  for  myself  out 
of  it;  or  shall  I  use  it  for  the  purpose  of  getting  money  for 
myself  ?  The  street-car  company  is  in  desperate  straits.  We 
have  them  whipped.  They  probably  can  win  if  they  put 
this  thing  through,  and  that  makes  it  certain  they  will  pay 
me  to  withhold  my  knowledge  of  their  plan,  for  if  they  lose 
they  must  immediately  spend  large  amounts  of  money  for 
improvements,  extensions,  etc.,  and  must  pay  an  increased 
municipal  franchise  tax. 

"I  know  enough  of  what  goes  on  in  Washington  to  know 
that  corporations  are  considered  legitimate  subjects  of  attack 
in  this  manner,  and  that  they  usually  pay  for  protection  and 
political  aid.  I  can  aid  this  corporation  by  withholding  my 
information,  or  I  can  hurt  it  in  a  most  vulnerable  spot — its 
treasury — by  telling  what  I  know.  Which  would  be  best 
for  me  ?  I  am  sure  I  can  get  a  good  sized  sum  for  my  in 
formation. 

"Please  consider  this  sacredly  confidential,  and  advise  me 
by  telegraph.  In  order  that  there  may  be  no  leak  here  I 
suggest  you  send  me  a  telegram  reading  like  this:  'Your 
brother  has  arrived'  and  sign  it  'Charles  Smith'  if  you  ad 
vise  me  to  expose  the  plot ;  or  a  telegram  reading  'Your 
money  will  be  held  subject  to  your  directions'  and  sign  it 
'William  Jones'  if  you  think  I  should  negotiate  with  the 
corporation.  I  merely  suggest  these  ciphers.  Any  telegram 
with  the  word  'brother'  in  it  will  mean,  to  me,  that  I  am 
to  proceed  with  the  exposure,  and  any  telegram  with  the 
word  'money'  in  it  will  mean  that  I  shall  negotiate  with 
the  street-car  company.  Please  telegraph  on  receipt  of  this, 
for  my  time  is  short. 

"With  kind  regards,  and  best  wishes, 

"Faithfully, 
"T.  MARMADUKE  HICKS." 


i8o  THE    FAKERS 

Hicks  mailed  his  letter,  taking  it  to  the  station 
himself  to  make  sure  it  went  on  the  east  bound 
train.  He  continued  his  assaults,  to  enthusiastic  au 
diences, .on  Thursday  and  Friday,  and  held  frequent 
conferences  with  Rollins,  who  assured  him  victory 
was  in  the  air. 

A  telegram  was  waiting  for  Hicks  when  he 
reached  his  office  on  Saturday  morning.  He  tore  it 
open  and  read: 

"WASHINGTON,  April  17,   1902. 
"T.  MARMADUKE  HICKS, 

"Care  Chittlings  and  Hicks, 

"Rextown. 
"Your  brother's  money. 

"CHARLES  WILLIAM  SMITH-JONES." 


CHAPTER   XXII 

HICKS  stared  at  the  telegram  in  dismay. 
He  read  it   again:      "Your  brother's 
money." 
His  cipher  had  been  amalgamated 
by    the    wily    Senator.     What    did    it 
mean?    Was  it  a  joke?     If  it  was  it  was  a  cruel  one, 
for  it  left  him  in  a  most  uncomfortable  position,  with 
no  plan  formed.    Hicks  had  been  so  sure  the  Senator 
would  help  him  decide  and  so  willing  to  rely  on  the 
Senator's  advice,  that  he  had  practically  dismissed 
the  matter  from  his  mind,  and  had  worked  out  no 
details  of  any  kind. 

"Your  brother's  money!" 

The  yellow  telegraph  slip  lay  on  his  desk  and 
seemed  to  be  grinning  impishly  at  him. 

"Your  brother's  money!" 

Hicks  sat  at  his  desk  and  racked  his  brain.  Sud 
denly  he  jumped  to  his  feet  and  shouted:  "I  know — 
I  know — he  means  to  do  both — get  the  money  and 
make  the  exposure.  That  must  be  it." 

Hicks  reproached  himself  for  not  thinking  of  this 
himself  and  for  going  to  the  Senator  with  a  prob 
lem  which,  now  that  it  was  solved  for  him,  seemed 
so  simple  of  solution.  He  instantly  determined  to 
get  in  touch  with  Roscoe,  see  what  could  be  done 
with  him,  and,  later,  to  seek  Rollins,  and  plan  the 
explosion. 

He  didn't  know  how  to  go  about  getting  to  Ros 
coe.  He  had  been  assailing  Roscoe  bitterly,  and 

181 


1 82  THE    FAKERS 

knew    Roscoe    wouldn't    see    him    unless    he    used 
strategy.     What  strategy  should  he  use? 

There  was  an  envelope  on  his  desk  addressed  to 
him  in  the  heavy  handwriting  of  Chittlings.  He 
tore  it  open  and  read,  scrawled  on  a  slip  of  paper: 
"Dear  Hicks :  I'm  going  out  to  Grandsburg  to  spend 
Sunday.  I'll  be  back  on  Monday  afternoon  in  suf 
ficient  time  to  vote  against  you  on  Tuesday.  Yrs, 
J.  K.  C." 

As  Hicks  sat  with  the  note  in  his  hand  he  had  an 
idea.  "Why,  certainly,"  he  said,  "that's  the  way 
to  do  it.  Use  Chittlings." 

He  told  the  stenographer  to  go  down  to  the  court 
house  and  make  a  copy  of  a  long  record.  He  sent 
the  clerk  out  on  some  collections.  When  the  of 
fice  was  clear  he  locked  the  outside  door,  and  went 
to  the  telephone.  He  called  the  offices  of  the  street 
car  company. 

"Hello,"  he  said,  talking  as  much  like  Chittlings 
as  he  could.  "This  is  Mr.  Chittlings,  the  attorney, 
to  talk  to  Mr.  Roscoe." 

There  was  a  pause. 

"Hello,  Mr.  Roscoe,  this  is  Chittlings.  J.  K.  Chit 
tlings — I'm  very  well,  thank  you — oh,  yes,  I  am 
sure  it  will  work — excellent  plan,  don't  you  think — 
can  be  executed  easily  too — my  business  with  you 
—I  think  it  would  be  well  if  you  came  to  see  my 
partner,  Mr.  Hicks — don't  say  I  mentioned  the 
matter  to  you — he'll  be  at  the  office  about  nine-thirty 
— oh,  no — I  am  not  concerned — from  some  things 
I  heard  I  fancy  it  would  be  to  your  advantage  to 
talk  to  him — you'll  find  him  a  decent  sort  of  a  chap 
— he  doesn't  mean  all  this  stuff  he's  handing  out — 
nine-thirty — yes — that's  right." 

Hicks  thought  over  what  he  would  say.  At  half- 
past  nine  the  outside  door  opened  and  Jenkins  came 
in. 


THE    FAKERS  183 

"Whom  do  you  wish  to  see?  asked  Hicks. 

"Mr.  Hicks." 

"I  am  Mr.  Hicks,  and  you?" 

"I  am  Mr.  Jenkins,  general  manager  of  the  street 
car  company." 

"And  what  is  your  business  with  me?" 

"I  understood  you  desired  to  see  me." 

"For  what  purpose?" 

"I  don't  know.  Mr.  Roscoe  said  you  wanted  to 
see  me.  He  said  he  was  in  touch  with  a  person  this 
morning  who  intimated  you  would  talk  with  Mr. 
Roscoe." 

"If  that  is  so  why  didn't  Mr.  Roscoe  come  him 
self,  provided  he  wants  to  see  me,  although  I  can 
not  imagine  what  business  he  can  have  with  me." 

"He  thought  I- 

"But,  Mr.  Jenkins,  I  have  no  possible  business 
with  you,  nor  am  I  in  the  habit  of  talking  to  in 
termediaries.  If  Mr.  Roscoe  wants  to  see  me — al 
though  I  cannot  conjecture  why  he  should — I  would 
suggest  that  Mr.  Roscoe  appear  in  person.  Good 
morning." 

Jenkins  stared  at  the  perfectly  possessed  Hicks, 
whistled  and  went  out.  Half  an  hour  later  the  door 
opened  again  and  Roscoe  came  in. 

"Mr.  Hicks,"  he  asked,  in  a  much  strained  voice. 

"I  am  Mr.  Hicks,  sir." 

"And  I  am  Mr.  Roscoe." 

"I  recognized  you  instantly.  And  what  can  I 
do  for  you,  Mr.  Roscoe?" 

Hicks  waved  Roscoe  to  a  chair  with  a  polite  ges 
ture.  Roscoe  sat  down,  clutching  his  derby  hat  in 
both  hands.  He  was  red  in  the  face  and  breathing 
hard. 

"It  was  intimated  to  me,  Mr.  Hicks,  that  you 
desired  to  see  me." 

"For  what  purpose,   Mr.   Roscoe?" 


1 84  THE    FAKERS 

"I   haven't  the   slightest  idea." 

"Nor  have  I.  There  is  very  little  we  have  in 
common  at  the  present  time." 

"But — "  Roscoe  was  much  perplexed, — "I  was 
told  to  call  on  you  and  I  am  here." 

"I  am  sure  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  Ros 
coe,"  said  Hicks  suavely,  "but  unless  this  is  a  so 
cial  call  I  know  of  no  other  reason  why  you  should 
be  here." 

"A  social  call!"  snorted  Roscoe.  "Good  God, 
young  man,  1  like  your  nerve !  The  idea  of  me  call 
ing  on  you  socially.  Good-day." 

He  rose  and  jammed  his  hat  on  his  head.  As 
he  was  passing  out  of  the  room  Hicks  called:  "Oh, 
by  the  way,  Mr.  Roscoe,  now  that  your  visit  has  re 
freshed  my  memory,  there  is  a  matter  I  might  dis 
cuss  with  you." 

Roscoe  turned  and  asked  sharply:    "What  is  it?" 

"It  relates  to  that  plan  you  have  for  a  fake  acci 
dent  in  your  power  house  on  the  afternoon  of  elec 
tion  day,  and  the  consequent  crippling  of  your  sys 
tem  just  before  the  polls  close." 

Roscoe's  jaw  dropped.  He  stared  at  Hicks.  His 
face  went  from  red  to  purple  and  then  faded  slowly 
back  to  red  again.  He  stammered,  stuttered, 
gasped. 

"You  damned  scoundrel!"  he  shouted.  "Do  you 
mean  that  you  and  your  blackmailing  partner  are 
trying  to  collect  twice  on  that?  By  God,  you  can't! 
I'll  have  you  arrested." 

"I  do  not  know  to  whom  you  refer  as  my  black 
mailing  partner,  Mr.  Roscoe,"  said  Hicks  steadily, 
his  eyes  narrowing  as  he  concentrated  them  on  the 
apoplectic  street  car  magnate.  "If  you  mean  Mr. 
Chittlings,  I  can  deny  the  allegation  for  him  and 
leave  him  to  pursue  it  further  at  his  leisure.  I  have 
no  knowledge  of  what  else  you  mean.  I  merely  said 


THE    FAKERS  185 

there  are  certain  plans  of  yours  that  have  come  to 
my  knowledge  and  it  might  interest  you  to  discuss 
them  with  me?" 

Roscoe  flopped  down  in  a  chair. 

"What  do  you  want?"  he  asked  hoarsely. 

"Nothing,  my  dear  sir,  nothing.  I  merely  sug 
gested  we  might  discuss  this  matter.  Of  course, 
you  know  now  that  I  am  in  full  possession  of  the 
facts  in  the  case  and  it  is  my  duty  to  expose  them, 
which  I  shall  do  at  my  noon-day  meeting  to-day,  and 
you  will  not  be  able  to  carry  out  your  nefarious 
scheme." 

"Do  you  intend  to  do  that?"  asked  Roscoe,  who 
was  palpably  frightened  and  nervous. 

"It  is  my  duty,"  declaimed  Hicks.  "Doesn't  it 
appeal  to  you  in  that  light?" 

"What  will  you  take  to  keep  quiet?"  Roscoe's 
voice  was  husky.  His  tongue  was  dry.  He  gulped 
and  choked  over  the  words.  He  knew  he  was 
trapped. 

"What  will  I  take?"  exclaimed  Hicks.  "Why, 
my  dear  sir,  I  have  no  such  idea  in  mind!  What 
will  I  take?  Do  you  mean  you  are  trying  to  bribe 
me  to  keep  this  nefarious  plot  secret  and  allow 
you  to  defeat  the  will  of  the  people.  I  am  sur 
prised  at  you,  Mr.  Roscoe!" 

"What  will  you  take  to  keep  quiet?"  demanded 
Roscoe  again. 

"Why,  really,  Mr.  Roscoe,"  continued  Hicks, 
"the  matter  hadn't  appealed  to  me  in  that  light.  I 
am  at  a  loss  to  understand  you.  Do  you  mean  what 
compensation  would  I  exact  to  remain  silent  about 
this  horrid  business?" 

"Exactly  that?"   Roscoe   replied. 

Hicks  paced  back  and  forth  across  the  room. 

"I  hadn't  considered  that,"  he  said,  half  to  him 
self.  "Of  course,  I  could  not  think  of  doing  such 


1 86  THE    FAKERS 

a  thing,  but  if  I  were  so  inclined  what  would  it  be 
worth  to  you,  Mr.  Roscoe." 

"I  will  give  you  a  thousand  dollars  to  say  noth- 
ing." 

"A  thousand  dollars."  laughed  Hicks.  "Why, 
really,  Mr.  Roscoe,  for  a  man  of  large  affairs  you 
have  very  primitive  ideas  about  money.  A  thou 
sand  dollars !  That's  an  absurd  valuation  to  put 
on  a  piece  of  information  that  means  so  much  to 
you.  A  thousand  dollars! — ridiculous!"  and  Hicks 
laughed  again. 

"How  much,  then?"  asked  Roscoe,  glaring  at  the 
laughing  Hicks. 

"Well,  Mr.  Roscoe,  if  I  were  to  put  a  valuation 
on  this  matter,  which,  of  course,  I  shall  not  do,  in 
asmuch  as  I  have  no  idea  of  not  exposing  you,  but 
merely  for  the  purpose  of  prolonging  a  most  agree 
able  conversation,  I  should  say  that  five  thousand 
dollars  would  be  barely  adequate  in  the  circum 
stances." 

"Five  thousand  dollars!"  screamed  Roscoe. 
"Why,  that  is  preposterous." 

"Oh,  fie,  fie,  Mr.  Roscoe,  you  are  excited.  Re 
member  I  am  offering  you  nothing.  I  have  nothing 
to  sell.  You  led  the  conversation  into  these  chan 
nels  yourself." 

Roscoe  sat  and  stared  into  his  hat.  Hicks  whistled 
a  snatch  of  a  tune. 

"Well,"  said  Roscoe,  "I'll  give  you  five  thousand 
dollars.  I'll  mail  you  a  check." 

"My  dear  Mr.  Roscoe,  you  will  do  nothing  of 
the  kind.  I  could  not  use  a  check.  Besides,  there 
is  no  reason  why  you  should  give  me  a  check  for 
that  amount  or  any  other  sum." 

"How  do  you  want  it,  then?"  persisted  Roscoe. 

"I  have  often  noted  the  peculiar  shade  of  yel 
low  on  the  backs  of  one  hundred  dollar  bills,"  said 


THE    FAKERS  187 

Hicks  as  if  no  one  was  present  and  he  was  talking 
aloud  for  his  own  amusement.  "It  certainly  symbo 
lizes  the  gold  for  which  they  are  legal  tender.  I 
don't  suppose  a  package  of  fifty  of  those  bills  would 
be  bulky,  would  it,  Mr.  Roscoe?" 

He  turned  to  Roscoe,  who  sat  and  glared  indig 
nantly  at  him. 

"I  haven't  got  fifty  hundred-dollar  bills  on  me, 
and  you  know  it,"  growled  Roscoe. 

"Why  should  you  have?  I  see  no  reason  why  a 
man,  even  of  such  great  affairs  as  yours,  should 
carry  so  much  money  with  him.  However,  I  un 
derstand  the  banks  have  them  in  large  supply.  Not 
going,  are  you?  Well,  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  you 
at  any  time.  I  shall  be  here  until  a  quarter  to 
twelve,  when  I  have  an  address  to  make.  It  would 
be  quite  sensational,  wouldn't  it,  Mr.  Roscoe,  if  I 
happened  to  mention  this  matter  of  the  proposed 
fake  accident  at  the  power  house  in  that  address? 
I  am  assured  of  a  large  audience,  and  the  reporters 
generally  drop  around." 

Roscoe's  face  grew  purple  again.  He  rushed 
out.  Hicks  sat  down  and  looked  across  at  the  Me 
tropolis  Hotel.  He  was  well  pleased  with  him 
self. 

Half  an  hour  later  Roscoe  came  back.  He  took 
a  bundle  of  bills  from  his  inside  coat  pocket. 

"Here's  your  money,"  he  said,  holding  out  the 
bills. 

Hicks  gazed  steadily  out  of  the  window.  "What 
money?"  he  asked. 

"Your  five  thousand  dollars." 

"Nor  mine — yours,"  insisted  Hicks.  "How  very 
kind  of  you  to  bring  me  these  samples  for  my  ad 
miration.  Fifty,  did  you  say?  Would  you  mind 
counting  them,  one  by  one?  It  doesn't  seem  possi 
ble  there  are  fifty  there." 


i88  THE    FAKERS 

Roscoe,  trembling  with  rage,  counted  the  bills, 
one  by  one. 

"Ah,"  said  Hicks,  after  he  had  finished.  "There 
are  fifty,  are  there  not?  Ours  is  a  most  compact 
currency." 

"Gr-r-r!"  choked  Roscoe,  standing  with  the  lit 
tle  package  of  bills  in  his  hand.  "I  know  I'm  a 
damned  fool  to  do  this,  but  what  else  can  I  do  when 
you  and  your  socialistic  associates  have  got  the  peo 
ple  all  worked  up  over  your  lying  charges  against 
us  and  may  not  beat  us.  Any  man  in  this  city  will 
say  I'm  a  lunatic  to  hand  you  this  money,  you  black 
mailing  scoundrel,  but  I'm  in  a  corner.  It's  like 
throwing  five  thousand  dollars  in  a  sewer.  I  sup-' 
pose  you  will  give  me  what  passed  for  your  word 
that  you  will  not  mention  this  matter." 

"I  have  promised  nothing,  Mr.  Roscoe.  Every 
proposition  that  has  been  made  here  you  have  made 
yourself." 

"But,  damn  it,  young  man,  do  you  mean  you  sent 
me  out  to  get  this  money  and  that  you  are  going 
to  give  no  return  for  it.  What  is  this,  just  a  plain 
hold-up?" 

"It  seems  to  me  to  be  a  conversation  between 
a  very  excited  street  car  magnate,  with  a  lot  of 
hundred  dollar  bills  in  his  hand,  and  a  totally  per 
plexed  lawyer  named  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,"  said 
Hicks. 

"Oh,  for  God's  sake!"  shouted  the  exasperated 
Roscoe,  "here  is  your  rotten  money.  You  and 
your  gang  have  got  me  crazy.  If  you  break  faith 
with  me  I'll  punish  you  if  it  takes  a  lifetime." 

He  threw  the  money  on  the  desk,  and  hurried  out. 

"Mr.  Roscoe! — Mr.  Roscoe!"  shouted  Hicks 
after  him.  "You  left  something  here." 

The  only  answer  was  the  slamming  of  the  door. 

Hicks  gathered  up  the  money,  counted  it,  caressed 


THE    FAKERS  189 

it,  felt  the  texture  of  the  bills,  admired  the  engrav 
ing,  and  the  color.  It  was  more  money  than  he  had 
ever  seen,  at  one  time,  in  his  life,  and  it  was  his,  if 
he  wanted  to  keep  it.  He  thought  he  would  keep' 
it,  and  was  preparing  to  hide  it  somewhere,  until 
a  favorable  time  came  to  deposit  it  in  a  bank,  when 
his  eye  caught  the  telegram  from  the  Senator. 

"Your  brother's  money." 

Hicks  recalled  men  who  had  taken  money  to 
entrap  bribers,  and  the  notoriety  they  had  attained 
by  exposing  the  bribe-givers.  He  felt  sure  the  Sen 
ator  meant  to  do  that. 

"This  game  is  only  half  over,"  he  said  to  him 
self,  and  he  telephoned  to  Rollins  to  come  to  his 
office  after  the  noonday  meeting  that  day,  which 
Rollins  promised  to  do.  Hicks  went  across  to  the 
store  where  the  noonday  meetings  were  held,  and 
excoriated  Roscoe  and  the  other  street  car  mag 
nates,  but  he  said  nothing  about  the  plot. 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Rollins,  as  he  came  into 
Hicks's  office  about  one  o'clock. 

"Roscoe  was  here  this  morning." 

"Roscoe!"  repeated  Rollins  in  amazement,  "what 
did  that  pirate  want  of  you?" 

"He  tried  to  bribe  me." 

"What  for?"  asked  the  incredulous  Rollins. 
"WThy  should  he  try  to  bribe  you?" 

"Because  I  know  something  he  wants  no  one  else 
to  know.  He  left  these,"  and  Hicks  took  the  hun 
dred-dollar  bills  out  of  his  pocket  and  spread  them 
on  the  desk. 

"How  much?"  asked  Rollins,  looking  at  Hicks 
and  then  at  the  money. 

"How  much?  What  for?  Did  you  take  it? 
Have  you  been  corrupted?" 

"Hold  on,"  interrupted  Hicks.  "Don't  get  ex 
cited.  Of  course  I  took  it,  for  here  it  is,  but  I 


i9o  THE    FAKERS 

didn't  take  it  to  keep.  I  took  it  to  show  at  the  meet 
ing  on  Monday,  when  I  will  expose  the  whole  affair, 
the  plot  and  the  rotten  methods  of  Roscoe  and  the 
whole  thing." 

"I  don't  understand,"  said  Rollins.  "What  is 
it?  What  does  he  want?  Why  have  you  all  this 
money  if  you  don't  intend  to  keep  it?  What  is  it 
all  about?" 

"Now  keep  quiet  and  listen,"  urged  Hicks,  "and 
I'll  explain  it  all.  I  found  out  a  plot  they  have  to 
stop  the  cars " 

"Stop  the  cars!"  broke  in  the  excited  Rollins. 
"When?  Why?  What  for?" 

"Wait  a  minute,  please.  I  found  out  about  a 
plot  they  have  to  stop  the  cars  about  closing  time 
in  the  factories  on  Tuesday  afternoon  and  thus 
make  it  impossible  for  the  majority  of  the  mill  men 
to  get  home  in  time  to  vote.  Roscoe  learned  I 
knew  of  this  and  came  here  and  offered  me  this 
money  to  say  nothing  about  it." 

"How  are  they  going  to  stop  the  cars?" 

"By  a  fake  accident  at  the  power  house  that  will 
put  them  out  of  commission  just  before  six  o'clock. 
The  polls  will  close  at  seven,  sharp.  The  men  won't 
know  about  this  and  will  hang  around  waiting  for 
cars  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes.  Then  they  will 
walk  across  town,  but  most  of  them  won't  get  to 
their  polling  places  in  the  four  outlying  wards  until 
after  it  is  too  late  to  vote,  for  Paddy  Ross  controls 
the  election  machinery  and  he's  in  on  it  and  will  see 
that  the  voting  is  done  slowly." 

Rollins  whistled. 

"Well,"  he  said,  "what  shall  we  do  about  it?" 

"Expose  them,"  said  Hicks.  "Post  a  big  adver 
tisement  in  the  Chronicle  for  Monday  morning  urg 
ing  all  the  people  in  Rextown  to  come  and  hear  my 
noonday  address.  Get  up  an  extra  edition  of  the 


THE    FAKERS  191 

Chronicle  for  circulation  on  Monday  afternoon. 
Play  it  up  all  over  the  paper  on  Tuesday  morning 
and  they  won't  dare  pull  off  any  accident.  Besides, 
we  can  frighten  the  factory  owners  into  shutting 
down  for  half  a  day  if  we  go  at  it  right." 

"Fine!"  shouted  Rollins,  "fine!  It'll  beat  them. 
But  what  shall  we  do  with  this  money?" 

"I'll  take  care  of  that,"  replied  Hicks.  "I'll  use 
it  as  proof  in  my  speech,  and  then  we  can  decide 
what  use  to  make  of  it  afterward." 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

THEY  spent  the  afternoon  in  consultation 
with  the  editor  of  the  Chronicle.  It  was 
decided  to  continue  the  regular  line  of 
attack  in  the  Chronicle  on  Sunday  and 
Monday  mornings,  and  to  prepare  a  spe 
cial  edition  of  that  paper  for  circulation  on  the 
streets  immediately  after  Hicks  had  made  his  speech. 
Hicks  insisted  on  this,  although  the  Chronicle  edi 
tor  pleaded  for  permission  to  spread  the  story  all 
over  his  paper  on  Sunday  morning.  Hicks  pointed 
out  that  this  would  give  Roscoe  time  to  make  a  de 
nial  and  a  defense.  Also,  although  he  said  nothing 
about  that  phase  of  it,  it  would  deprive  him  of  the 
privilege  of  making  the  .exposure  and  getting  the 
credit. 

He  went  to  his  office  on  Sunday  morning  and 
wrote,  on  his  typewriter,  a  long  speech,  in  which  he 
exposed  the  plot,  branded  Roscoe  as  a  briber,  up 
held  his  own  great  honesty  and  sincerity  of  purpose 
in  taking  the  money  in  order  to  convict  Roscoe,  and 
urged  all  citizens  to  repudiate  at  the  polls  this  villain 
and  traitor  to  the  free  suffrages  of  Rextown.  This 
speech  he  gave  to  the  editor  of  the  Chronicle. 

The  Chronicle  on  Monday  morning  carried  a  page 
display  advertisement  of  the  Hicks's  Monday  meet 
ing,  urging  all  citizens  of  Rextown  to  attend, 
as  it  was  the  most  important  meeting  of  the  cam 
paign.  Hicks  secluded  himself  until  half-past  eleven 
o'clock,  for  fear  Roscoe  might  try  to  find  him,  and 

192 


THE    FAKERS  193 

arrived  at  the  vacant  store  used  for  a  hall  at  a  quar 
ter  of  twelve.  The  place  was  jammed  and  hundreds 
of  people  were  on  the  street,  trying  to  get  in. 

"This  will  never  do,"  said  Rollins.  "Get  them 
out  on  the  street." 

A  loud-voiced  young  man  shoved  his  way  to  the 
platform  and  announced  that  Mr.  Hicks  would  talk 
from  the  balcony  of  the  Metropolis  Hotel,  so  that 
all  might  hear.  The  people  surged  out  and  stood 
in  the  street  in  front  of  the  hotel.  Rollins  and  Hicks 
and  a  few  others  went  up  on  the  balcony.  As  Tom- 
mie  stepped  forward  he  felt  that  he  had  arrived. 
This  was  by  far  the  greatest  crowd  he  had  ever 
spoken  to.  They  cheered  him  when  he  appeared, 
and  he  bowed  many  times. 

He  began  his  speech  with  his  usual  references  to 
the  campaign  for  the  rights  of  the  people,  and 
scored  the  octopus,  dilating  for  ten  minutes  on  the 
iniquities  of  that  corporation,  and  its  management. 
He  made  his  plea  to  the  people  to  go  to  the  polls 
and  elect  the  fusion  ticket  on  the  day  following. 
He  referred  to  the  various  candidates  eulogisti- 
cally. 

Then  he  raised  both  hands  and  said:  "And  now, 
my  friends,  I  come  to  the  most  important  portion 
of  what  I  have  to  say.  Not  content  with  its  con 
trol  of  the  corrupt  Paddy  Ross  organization  that 
controls  the  corrupted  Republican  party  in  this  city 
of  Rextown,  this  venal  organization  that  seeks  to 
steal  our  streets  and  to  impose  its  greedy  monopolis 
tic  clutches  on  our  people — this  gang  of  financial 
pirates  who  have  no  thought  other  than  to  line  their 
own  bloated  purses  with  money  wrung  from  the  hon 
est  workingman,  knowing  that  it  is  beaten,  knowing 
that  the  day  of  reckoning  will  come  as  surely  as  the 
sun  rises  to-morrow,  knowing  that  it  is,  at  last,  to  be 
brought  to  account,  and  its  special  privileges  taken 


i94  THE    FAKERS 

from  it  and  a  proper  levy  laid  on  it,  has  plotted  ne 
fariously  to  defeat  the  will  of  the  people. 

"My  friends,  I  stand  before  you  as  the  humble 
instrument  of  an  all-wise  Providence  for  the  defeat 
of  this  plot,  this  heinous  conspiracy  against  the  good 
people  of  Rextown.  I  discovered  and  I  now.  an 
nounce  to  you  that  this  plutocratic  corporation  has 
squeezed  the  people  of  Rextown  in  its  horrid  toils, 
that  it  has  stolen  our  streets,  prostituted  our  elec 
tions,  defied  our  authority  and  ravished  our  treas 
ury  and  that  now — conscious  that  it  is  to  be  called 
to  account  by  the  votes  of  the  free  men  of  Rextown — 
it  has  plotted  to  disfranchise  a  great  portion  of  our 
citizens,  and  especially  those  who  earn  their  bread 
by  the  sweat  of  their  brows  in  our  factories  and 
mills.  They  have  conspired  to  deprive  those  honest 
workingmen  of  their  honest,  God-fearing,  anti-street 
car-company  votes." 

Tommie  stopped  for  an  instant.  The  people  were 
vastly  interested. 

"Go  on,  Hicks  !"  they  shouted.  "Go  on.  What's 
up?" 

"What's  up?"  repeated  Hicks.  "This,  fellow 
citizens,  this.  These  arrogant,  purse-proud  rob 
bers  who  own  the  street-car  company  have  planned 
to  have  a  fake  accident  in  their  power  house  to 
morrow  afternoon  just  before  closing  time  in  the 
factories  and  mills,  thus  throwing  all  the  cross- 
town  cars  out  of  commission,  and  making  it  im 
possible  for  the  hundreds  of  voters  in  the  factories 
to  get  to  their  polling  places  in  time  to  vote  against 
them.  It  is  the  only  way  they  can  win.  They  are 
beaten.  They  know  they  are  beaten,  but,  thank 
God,  I  stand  here  and  announce  this  plot  to  you,  and 
steps  can,  and  will,  be  taken  to  prevent  its  consum 
mation.  It  cannot  be  carried  out.  You  are  all 
warned." 


THE    FAKERS  195 

There  was  a  roar  of  rage  from  the  people. 

"Let  them  try  it,"  they  shouted.  "By  God,  let 
them  try  it  and  we'll  tear  down  their  power  house 
and  burn  their  cars." 

"And,"  shouted  Hicks,  "more  than  that,  more 
than  that,  my  fellow  citizens  of  Rextown,  when 
they  learned  I  had  become  cognizant  of  their 
heinous  undertaking  to  defeat  the  will  of  the  peo 
ple,  they  tried  to  bribe  me — tried  to  bribe  me,  fel 
low  citizens !"  and  his  voice  climbed  and  climbed  to 
a  shrill  scream. 

He  reached  into  his  pocket  and  pulled  out  the 
money.  He  leaned  over  the  balcony  and  shook  the 
yellow  bills  in  the  faces  of  the  indignant  crowd. 

"Here  is  the  dirty,  the  rotten  money  they  of 
fered  me  to  remain  silent  about  this  plot,  this  at 
tempt  to  disfranchise  our  people,  here  it  is — five 
thousand  dollars! — five  thousand  dollars! — that  the 
corrupt  Roscoe  tried  to  force  on  me  as  a  price  of 
my  honor  and  as  a  bribe  for  my  betrayal  of  the  peo 
ple  of  this  city.  Here  is  the  proof!  Here  are  the 
identical  bills  Roscoe  handed  to  me,  but,  my  fellow 
citizens,  he  knows  his  mistake.  He  now  knows  that, 
however  dishonorable  he  may  be,  he  cannot  buy  my 
honor  for  the  paltry  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars, 
nor  for  any  other  sum,  and  I  shall  hurl  this  money 
in  his  bloated  face,  now  that  I  have  shown  it  to  you 
as  further  evidence  of  his  corruption,  his  manner  of 
retaining  control  of  our  streets,  his  rottenness  and 
his  lack  of  civic  decency. 

"Go  to  the  polls  to-morrow,  my  fellow  citizens, 
and  vote  to  support  the  men  who  have  made  this 
fight  for  your  rights  and  your  streets  and  your  com 
fort  and  your  welfare  and  your  treasury.  Rebuke 
this  corrupt  corporation  and  its  gang  of  corrupt  poli 
ticians,  and,  more  than  all,  rebuke  this  monster,  Ros 
coe,  who  tried  to  bribe  me  to  betray  you — you,  the 


196  THE    FAKERS 

people,  for  whom  I  am  fighting  and  the  people  I 
love." 

The  Chronicle  circulation  manager  released  his 
newsboys  just  as  Hicks  finished.  They  swarmed  up 
the  street  with  copies  of  the  special  edition  of  that 
paper  containing  a  full  account  of  the  plot,  the  at 
tempted  bribery,  the  display  of  the  money  by  Hicks, 
and  his  speech,  and  there  were  great  indignation  and 
much  threatening  by  the  crowd. 

Hicks  took  his  congratulations  with  the  air  of  a 
man  who  had  done  a  great  thing  and  knows  it. 
There  was  a  hurried  conference  of  the  street  car 
people,  and  the  Globe  and  Leader  carried  denials 
in  big  type  of  every  charge  Hicks  made,  signed  by 
Roscoe,  Jenkins,  Paddy  Ross  and  others.  They 
said  Hicks  had  faked  up  the  whole  story,  and  was 
merely  trying  to  get  a  little  cheap  notoriety  at  the 
expense  of  a  highly  moral  and  public-spirited  cor 
poration. 

"Why  should  the  people  of  Rextown  believe  this 
man  Hicks?"  the  Republican  papers  screamed,  "who 
doesn't  own  a  dollar's  worth  of  property  in  Rex- 
town,  who  has  been  here  only  a  year  or  two,  who 
is  a  self-confessed  bribe  taker,  if  this  money  was 
a  bribe,  which  it  was  not,  for  Mr.  Roscoe  never 
spoke  a  word  with  him  in  his  life,  nor  did  any  of 
the  managers  of  the  street  car  company. 

"Undoubtedly,  this  money  was  supplied  to  Hicks 
by  'Perk'  Rollins  for  this  scandalous  exhibition.  We 
trust,  and  have  full  confidence,  that  the  sober  sec 
ond  thought  of  the  people  of  Rextown  will  rebuke 
at  the  polls  to-morrow  this  upstart  and  braggart 
who  seeks  thus  to  defame  the  character  of  one  of 
our  greatest  and  most  public-spirited  institutions,  the 
Rextown  Traction  and  Power  Company." 

Hicks  discovered,  during  his  triumphal  progress 
down  the  street,  and  not  a  little  to  his  chagrin,  that 


THE    FAKERS  197 

the  fact  he  had,  and  displayed,  five  thousand  dol 
lars  in  bills  was  held  to  be  the  clinching  proof  that 
an  attempt  at  bribery  had  been  made.  The  money 
overweighed  all  of  his  statements.  It  was  held  that 
Rollins  would  not  stoop  to  such  a  subterfuge,  hav 
ing  a  deserved  reputation  for  honesty,  and  that 
Hicks  could  have  secured  so  much  money  in  no  other 
way  than  from  Roscoe,  against  whom  the  people  had 
been  much  incensed  by  the  steady  fight  of  the  fusion- 
ists  and  the  good  work  of  the  Chronicle. 

Next  morning  the  Chronicle  had  pages  of  spe 
cific  statements  about  the  incident,  statements  by 
Hicks  and  his  speech,  statements  by  Rollins  that  he 
did  not  supply  the  money,  and  all  the  details  of  the 
affair  from  the  beginning,  supplied  by  Hicks  with 
such  omissions  as  he  felt  to  be  desirable.  The  Re 
publican  papers  scoffed  at  it  all,  called  Hicks  a  faker 
and  a  liar,  and  upheld  the  street  car  company  as 
an  organization  of  God-fearing,  man-loving  patriots 
who  would  not  stoop  to  such  a  trick.  Roscoe  was 
almost  hysterical  in  his  denials,  and  what  Paddy 
Ross  said  to  him,  at  their  meeting  after  the  speech, 
was  a  classic  in  profane  denunciation  for  political 
idiocy  based  on  arrant  fear  of  defeat. 

The  factory  owners,  fearing  trouble  with  their 
men,  closed  down  until  noon  to  allow  all  their  em 
ployees  to  vote,  and  the  fusion  ticket  carried  the 
election  by  a  close  margin,  winning  in  the  Fourth, 
Ninth,  Tenth  and  Sixteenth  wards  and  in  enough  of 
the  downtown  wards  to  give  them  a  majority  of  one 
on  the  board  of  aldermen,  besides  getting  the  city 
ticket  in  by  small  pluralities.  Hicks  won  by  about  a 
hundred  in  his  ward. 

He  telegraphed  the  news  to  Senator  Paxton,  and 
received  a  congratulatory  reply.  Later  he  sent  the 
Senator  all  the  newspapers,  but  heard  nothing  about 
those.  Rollins  was  ecstatic  in  his  delight.  For  the 


198  THE    FAKERS 

first  time  in  many  years  he  was  on  the  winning  side 
in  a  political  fight.  It  grieved  him  to  think  he  was 
winner  with  a  fusion  ticket,  but  Hicks,  and  a  few 
others,  were  Democrats,  and  he  interpreted  it  all 
to  mean  that  the  dawn  of  a  better  day  was  approach 
ing. 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

MR.  ROLLINS,"  said  Hicks,  two  days 
after  election,  "what  shall  I  do  with 
that  money?" 
"Where  is  it?"  asked  Rollins. 
"Locked  in  my  desk  at  the  office." 

"You  must  give  it  back  to  Roscoe,  of  course.  It's 
his,  not  yours." 

"But  Roscoe  won't  take  it." 

"If  he  doesn't  it  is  the  first  time  he  ever  refused 
money  of  any  kind." 

"But,"  persisted  Hicks,  "if  he  does  take  it  that 
will  be  a  confession  that  he  tried  to  bribe  me,  and  a 
repudiation  of  all  his  denials  and  statements." 

"Try  him,"  urged  Rollins.  "Go  over  and  offer 
it  to  him,  and,  if  he  refuses  it,  leave  it  on  his  desk 
and  go  out.  It  isn't  yours,  and  if  you  hold  it  much 
longer  the  people  will  think  you  took  it  with  a  view 
to  keeping  it.  Get  rid  of  it,  I  tell  you,  and  get  rid 
of  it  right  away." 

Hicks  thought  over  what  Rollins  had  said.  He 
hated  to  give  up  the  money,  but  he  knew  he  must. 
More  than  he  disliked  handing  back  the  five  thou 
sand  dollars  to  Roscoe  he  disapproved  of  the  idea  of 
handing  it  back  without  any  publicity  for  himself  be 
cause  of  the  virtuous  act.  The  plan  Rollins  pro 
posed  hadn't  an  advertising  feature  that  appealed 
to  Hicks.  To  be  sure,  he  might  notify  the  reporters 
of  his  intended  visit,  and  get  some  space  in  the  pa 
pers  that  way,  but,  if  he  did,  in  all  probability  Ros- 

199 


200  THE    FAKERS 

coe  would  refuse  to  see  him,  and  there  was  not  much 
of  the  spectacular  in  going  to  the  office  of  the  presi 
dent  of  the  traction  company  and  being  told  by  a 
clerk  that  the  president  was  not  in. 

Obviously,  if  Hicks  was  to  secure  further  no 
toriety  through  his  connection  with  the  money,  he 
must  operate  in  full  view  of  the  public,  not  in  the 
inner  office  of  Roscoe.  He  went  to  Rollins  late  that 
afternoon. 

"Mr.  Rollins,"  he  said,  "your  plan  of  offering 
that  money  to  Roscoe  isn't  feasible." 

"I  don't  see  why.  You  don't  intend  to  keep  the 
money,  do  you?" 

"No,  but  what's  the  use  of  trying  to  give  it  to 
Roscoe  in  private?" 

"In  private?"  repeated  Rollins.  "You  don't  want 
to  give  it  to  him  in  public,  do  you?" 

"Why  not?  We'd  get  some  good  advertising  out 
of  it,  and  make  it  stick  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
that  Roscoe  really  did  try  to  corrupt  me." 

"Well,  didn't  he?" 

"Of  course  he  did,  but  what's  to  be  gained  by 
going  and  throwing  the  money  in  his  face?  Let's 
make  a  sensation  of  it." 

"A  sensation!"  exclaimed  the  surprised  Rollins. 
"Wnat  do  you  mean?" 

"Oh,  let's  do  it  out  in  the  open.  It's  too  good 
a  chance  to  be  lost." 

"It  seems  to  me,"  persisted  Rollins,  "that  the 
quicker  this  thing  is  over  and  forgotten  the  better 
it  will  be  for  all  concerned.  What's  the  need  of 
rubbing  it  in?" 

"Look  here,  Rollins,"  said  Hicks.  /'You  will 
admit  that  that  bribery  episode  was  a  big  factor  in 
helping  us  win  the  election,  won't  you?" 

"Yes." 

"Well,  that  was  due  to  me,  to  my  seizing  of  a 


THE    FAKERS  201 

situation  and  knowing  how  to  act  in  it  to  our  best 
advantage.  Now,  here  is  another  chance  to  do 
something,  not  only  for  the  cause,  but  for  myself, 
and  I'm  going  to  do  it." 

"Going  to   do  what?" 

"Going  to  realize  on  Mr.  Roscoe  and  his  fifty 
one-hundred  dollar  bills  once  more." 

"How?" 

"Oh,   I'll  find  a  way." 

"All  right,"  consented  Rollins,  "only  be  sure  to 
get  rid  of  the  money." 

Hicks  called  on  La  Fetra,  the  managing  editor 
of  the  Chronicle,  and  outlined  a  plan  he  had  in 
mind. 

"You  see,"  he  explained  to  La  Fetra,  "there's  no 
use  of  our  taking  Roscoe  into  the  corner  of  a  private 
office  and  saying  to  him:  'Please,  Mr.  Roscoe,  here's 
your  five  thousand  dollars.  Kindly  take  it  back  and 
we'll  say  nothing  more  about  the  affair.'  ' 

"That's  so,"  assented  La  Fetra,  "that  wouldn't 
get  us  anywhere." 

"Well,  then,  suppose  I  write  a  statement,  to  be 
printed  in  the  Chronicle  to-morrow  morning,  saying 
that  this  money,  which  has  served  its  useful  pur 
pose  of  ridding  the  politics  of  Rextown  of  the  con 
trol  of  this  corrupt  corporation,  is,  and  always  has 
been,  the  property  of  the  company,  and  that  we  have 
no  desire  to  contaminate  ourselves  by  retaining  it. 
Suppose  we  say  the  money  will  be  at  the  office  of  the 
Chronicle  to-morrow  at  noon,  and  that  Mr.  Hicks 
will  be  glad  to  hand  it  to  Mr.  Roscoe  if  Mr.  Ros 
coe  will  call  at  that  hour  and  receipt  for  it." 

"Good!"  exclaimed  La  Fetra,  who  saw  the  ad 
vertising  possibilities  of  the  plan.  "We'll  play  it 
up  all  over  the  first  page,  and  there'll  be  a  crowd  on 
hand,  but,"  he  added,  "of  course  Roscoe  won't 
come." 


202  THE    FAKERS 

"Of  course  not,  but  that  makes  no  difference.  We 
can  hold  the  offer  open  for  a  few  days,  and  get  a 
lot  of  publicity  out  of  it  and  then  we  can  give  the 
money  to  a  hospital  or  some  charity  and  pull  off 
more  deserved  applause." 

"Great!"  said  La  Fetra,  "positively  great!  If 
Roscoe  doesn't  come  in  for  the  money  we'll  put  it 
in  the  front  window  of  the  office  with  a  placard  say 
ing  this  is  the  identical  money  with  which  he  tried 
to  bribe  you,  and  it  will  make  a  big  show.  The  peo 
ple  don't  see  fifty  one-hundred  dollar  bills  very  often. 
We  can  get  four  or  five  days  of  sensation  out  of 
that,  and  by  that  time  we  will  decide  how  to  divide 
it  among  the  charities." 

They  arranged  many  details.  Hicks  wrote  a 
statement,  and  La  Fetra,  much  to  the  disgust  of 
Hicks,  toned  that  statement  down  considerably.  As 
it  was  printed,  on  the  first  page  of  the  Chronicle 
next  morning,  it  had  a  good  deal  of  Hicks  in  it,  but 
not  half  so  much  as  Hicks  had  hoped.  However,  it 
was  reasonably  personal  to  Hicks,  and  he  wisely  re 
flected  that  he  had  done  the  best  he  could. 

Hicks  and  the  Chronicle,  in  the  statement,  invited 
Roscoe  to  come  to  the  counting  room  of  that  paper 
that  day  at  noon,  and  receive  his  money.  All  Roscoe 
was  required  to  do  was  to  sign  a  receipt. 

The  crowd  began  gathering  at  ten  o'clock,  and  by 
noon  there  were  several  thousand  people  in  front 
of  the  Chronicle  building.  Some  policemen  kept  a 
lane  open  on  the  sidewalks.  Hicks  appeared  at  a 
quarter  to  twelve,  and  was  mildly  applauded.  He 
went  into  the  counting  room,  accompanied  by  Rol 
lins,  and  took  a  position  in  the  center  of  the  room. 

"Pshaw!"  he  said,  "not  a  tenth  of  those  people 
can  see  me." 

"Oh,  well,"  comforted  Rollins,  "they  all  know 
you  are  here." 


THE    FAKERS  203 

This  didn't  suit  Hicks,  but  there  was  no  place 
outside  suitable  for  the  handing  over  of  five  thou 
sand  tainted  dollars  to  a  representative  of  the  octo 
pus,  so  he  made  the  best  of  it.  At  twelve  o'clock  he 
took  out  the  money,  held  it  up  in  his  right  hand, 
posing  the  while  for  a  newspaper  picture,  and  at 
twelve  one  announced:  "It  is  now  one  minute  after 
twelve  o'clock,  and  Mr.  Roscoe  has  not  appeared. 
I  shall  give  him  fifteen  minutes'  grace." 

The  people  pushed  forward,  trying  to  see  what 
was  going  on,  shouting  derisively:  "Where's  Ros 
coe?"  hooting,  cat-calling  and  otherwise  conducting 
themselves  like  a  good-natured  American  crowd  out 
to  see  something  beyond  the  ordinary. 

Roscoe  had  not  appeared  at  a  quarter  past  twelve, 
and  Hicks,  feeling  he  had  a  ready-made  audience, 
ran  to  the  editorial  rooms  on  the  second  floor, 
pushed  up  a  window,  and  made  a  speech,  waving 
the  money  about,  and  denouncing  Roscoe  and  the 
street  car  company. 

That  afternoon  the  money  was  placed  in  a  glass 
case  and  displayed  in  the  big  window  of  the  Chroni 
cle  counting  room.  The  offer  was  repeated  next 
day,  and  Hicks  returned  at  noon.  The  crowd  was 
smaller,  and,  of  course,  Roscoe  did  not  come  for 
the  money.  Instead,  he  printed  in  the  other  morn 
ing  paper  a  most  violent  denunciation  of  Hicks  as 
a  faker  and  a  liar  and  again  asserted  on  his  honor 
as  a  business  man  who  had  spent  his  life  in  Rex- 
town,  and  who  had  his  fortune  invested  in  property 
there,  that  he  never,  at  any  time,  had  spoken  to 
Hicks,  and  that  he  had  not  given  him  this  money, 
nor  had  any  person  connected  with  the  street  car 
company. 

On  the  third  morning  the  Chronicle  announced 
that  as  it  was  apparent  Mr.  Roscoe  preferred  to  lose 
this  sum  rather  than  acknowledge  his  crime,  the 


204  THE    FAKERS 

money  would  be  divided  among  the  various  charities 
of  Rextown  by  a  committee  consisting  of  Mr.  Per 
kins  G.  Rollins,  Mr.  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  Mr. 
George  J.  La  Fetra  and  some  others. 

"Although  this  money  is  tainted  money,"  the  an 
nouncement  said,  "it  can  be  applied  to  the  sacred 
purposes  of  charity  and  do  good  which  it  never 
would  have  done  had  it  remained  in  the  hands  of 
the  arch-corruptionist  to  whom  it  originally  be 
longed.  Indeed,  the  committee  considers  this  as  an 
almost  providential  aid  for  the  noble  men  and 
women  who  are  managing  our  various  charities." 

Hicks  took  great  interest  in  the  distribution  of 
the  money,  and  had  his  name  in  the  papers  every 
day  for  a  fortnight.  He  sent  a  big  bunch  of  clip 
pings  to  Senator  Paxton  and,  a  week  or  so  later, 
received  a  note  which  said: 

"DEAR  HICKS: 

"I  have  read  the  clippings  with  much  interest.  Long  ago 
I  knew  you  as  an  apt  pupil  in  the  study  of  practical  politics, 
but  I  hardly  expected  you  to  jump  from  the  freshman  class 
to  the  last  semester  of  your  senior  year.  However,  do  not 
overlook  the  fact  that  the  pastime  of  playing  both  ends 
against  the  middle  depends  for  its  continued  success  on  the 
talent  the  player  has  for  keeping  the  middle  uninformed  of 
his  activities  at  the  ends. 

"Yours, 

"PAXTON/' 

Chittlings  said  nothing  to  Hicks  about  the  bribery 
incident,  or  his  share  in  it,  but  Hicks  found  his  part 
ner  looking  speculatively  at  him  many  times.  Hicks 
went  about  his  duties  as  alderman  energetically  and 
soon  discovered  that  the  workingmen  considered 
him  their  especial  representative  on  the  board.  After 
that  he  played  constantly  to  the  workingmen's  gal- 


THE    FAKERS  205 

lery.  He  addressed  meetings,  from  time  to  time, 
and  developed  a  profitable  end  to  his  popularity. 
He  encouraged  the  factory  and  mill  men  to  bring 
him  their  personal  damage  cases  and  their  other 
employers'  liability  claims  and,  before  the  end  of 
the  summer,  the  firm  of  Chittlings  and  Hicks  rented 
another  room,  hired  Gudger  away  from  Johnson, 
Jacobs  and  Jones,  and  put  him  in  charge  of  these 
cases.  Occasionally,  he  went  out  into  the  county 
and  talked  to  the  farmers,  and  he  helped  organize 
a  Monday  Evening  Club  that  met  once  a  week  and 
discussed  the  causes  whereby  the  rich  were  con 
stantly  getting  richer  and  the  poor  poorer,  and 
sought  for  means  to  ameliorate  the  condition,  not 
only  of  the  workingmen,  but  of  the  submerged 
tenth,  there  being  a  rather  hard-to-find,  but  sub 
merged,  fraction  of  Rextown  society;  not  exactly  a 
tenth,  perhaps,  for  the  one  was  prosperous  and  busy, 
but  a  faction  of  the  won't-work  sort. 

Hicks  had  growrn  into  a  florid,  wordy  orator.  He 
had  all  the  catch  phrases  of  the  real  lover  of  the 
people  at  his  tongue's  end,  and  he  never  missed  an 
opportunity  to  talk. 

Every  time  he  had  an  address  to  make  he  dic 
tated  his  speech,  or  what  he  considered  the  most 
striking  portions  of  it,  to  the  stenographer,  had  the 
notes  neatly  typewritten  and  sent  copies  to  the  city 
editors  of  the  Rextown  papers  with  pleasant  letters 
asking  that  some  use  be  made  of  the  enclosed. 
Often,  especially  on  dull  days,  he  was  gratified  to 
see  a  few  paragraphs  of  his  productions  in  the 
papers.  He  always  wrote  his  own  introductions 
to  the  speeches  speaking  of  himself  as  a  brilliant 
young  orator,  and  of  the  address  as  a  "masterly 
effort."  He  didn't  expect  much  of  this  would  get 
by  the  editors,  but  he  always  supplied  the  introduc 
tion  in  the  hope  that  his  self-praise  might;  and 


206  THE    FAKERS 

sometimes,  to  the  intense  gratification  of  Hicks, 
portions  of  it  did. 

He  made  it  a  point  to  write  congratulatory  letters 
to  everybody  he,  by  any  possibility,  could  claim  even 
as  a  speaking  acquaintance,  and  was  particularly 
strong  on  felicitations  over  domestic  events  whereby 
he  might  have  an  excuse  for  sending  a  flowery  note 
to  a  lady.  If  a  man  was  promoted,  or  did  a  good 
stroke  of  business,  or  announced  some  new  under 
taking,  Hicks  was  first  to  wish  him  well.  He  in 
vested  in  a  few  shares  in  some  new  enterprises  and 
was  placed  on  a  directorate  or  two.  When  the 
pastor  of  another  church  preached  an  especially 
strong  sermon  Hicks  wrote  him  a  note,  praising 
him  for  the  splendid  work  he  was  doing  in  spread 
ing  the  light,  and  he  kept  his  own  pastor  in  a  sort 
of  an  ecstatic  haze  by  his  unceasing  and  skillful 
flattery. 

If  one  of  the  local  authors  wrote  a  book  or  one 
of  the  local  poets  produced  a  poem  Hicks  looked 
over  a  copy  of  the  book  at  a  bookstore  and  then 
wrote  a  letter,  praising  the  work  extravagantly  and 
telling  the  author  how  delighted  he  was  to  make 
this  valuable  work  of  genius  a  permanent  addition 
to  his  library.  He  always  asked  the  poet  when 
he,  or  she,  intended  to  confer  a  great  boon  on 
literature  by  putting  his,  or  her,  poems  in  book 
form.  When  Charley  Corbett,  a  reporter  on  the 
Leader,  sold  a  New  York  magazine  a  short  story, 
Hicks  made  Corbett  his  friend  for  life  by  writing 
him  about  the  story  and  telling  him  it  had  touches 
that  reminded  him  of  Bret  Harte,  of  whose  work 
he  never  had  read  a  line.  Also  he  congratulated  the 
reporters  on  their  good  work  from  time  to  time, 
constantly  wrote  letters  to  the  editors  of  the  papers 
commending  them  in  extravagant  terms  for  their 
stands  on  local  and  national  questions,  and  the 


THE    FAKERS  207 

editors,  being  human,  promptly  printed  these  let 
ters,  which  was  why  Hicks  wrote  them. 

The  personal  damage  and  liability  suits  were  a 
great  asset.  Chittlings  said  nothing  about  termi 
nating  the  contract  at  the  nine-month  period,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  year  Hicks  broached  the  subject 
himself. 

"Chittlings,"  he  said,  "our  partnership  agreement 
expires  pretty  soon." 

"So  it  does,"  answered  Chittlings,  who  had  been 
fighting  shy  of  this  interview.  "I'll  have  a  new  one 
drawn  up." 

"On  what  basis?" 

"Why,  same  as  the  present  one,  of  course,"  Chit 
tlings  answered,  as  if  surprised  Hicks  should  think 
of  any  other  form  of  agreement. 

"Oh.  no,"  said  Hicks,  calmly.      "That  won't  do." 

"What  won't  do?"  blustered  Chittlings. 

"That  thirty  per  cent,  stipulation." 

Chittlings  gave  a  fine  imitation  of  an  amazed  and 
indignant  man.  "Do  you  mean  to  say  you  want 
more  than  that?" 

"Certainly." 

"Well,  I  like  your  nerve.  Here  I  grab  you  and 
make  something  out  of  you,  and  now  you  swell  up 
and  ask  for  an  increase  in  the  division.  What  do  you 
think  your  services  are  worth?" 

"Fifty  per  cent,"  said  Hicks.  "Flalf  and  half, 
and  I  won't  make  that  arrangement  for  more  than 
two  years,  either,  for  by  that  time  I  shall  probably 
not  need  you  on  that  basis." 

"Great  jumping  Jehosophat!"  exploded  Chit 
tlings.  "Do  you  mean  to  sit  there  and  spin  stuff 
like  that  to  me  with  the  idea  you  can  get  away  with 
it?  Let's  quit  now.  I  fancy  I  can  worry  along 
without  you." 


208  THE    FAKERS 

"As  you  please,"  Hicks  answered,  rising  to  leave 
the  room. 

"Hold  on,"  said  Chittlings.  "Listen  to  reason, 
can't  you?  How'd  forty  per  cent,  strike  you?" 

"Fifty  per  cent,  or  nothing:  share  and  share 
alike.';  J 

Chittlings  protested  he  never  would  give  that 
much,  but  ended  by  having  a  new  agreement,  run 
ning  for  two  years,  drawn  up,  and  both  signed  it. 
Chittlings  didn't  want  to  lose  Hicks.  He  saw  pos 
sibilities  in  that  young  man  that,  he  had  an  idea, 
Hicks,  even  with  his  inordinate  egotism,  did  not 
suspect.  But  he  was  wrong.  Hicks  knew  as  much 
about  himself  as  Chittlings  did,  and  more,  for 
Chittlings,  keen  as  he  was,  merely  surmised  his 
greediness  for  applause  and  for  power. 


CHAPTER    XXV 

OCCASIONALLY,   Hicks  found  himself 
thinking  of  Mrs.  Lester.    He  wondered 
where  she  \vas,  if  he  ever  would  see  her 
again,    and  what   was    her  condition   in 
life.     When  he  married,  he  said  to  him 
self,  he  would  marry   a   woman   of   Mrs.   Lester's 
kind,  for  she  appealed  to  him  as  the  right  sort  of 
a  Mrs.  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks — striking  in  appear 
ance — fashionable   in   attire,   bright,   vivacious,   cul 
tured — a   woman   who   would   win   admiration   for 
him   because   she   was   his,   because   she   was   Mrs. 
Hicks,    his   wife.     Once,    he   wrote   to    Mrs.    Lake 
asking  about  some  books  he  thought  he  had  left 
at  her  house,  and  saying,  at  the  end  of  this  letter, 
which  was  written  for  that  purpose,  as  he  had  left 
no  books  at  the  boarding-house:      "By  the  way,  I 
was  reminded  of  Mrs.  Lester  by  a  very  beautiful 
woman  I  saw  on  the  street  the  other  day.     Is  she 
still  with  you?" 

Mrs.  Lake,  being  an  astute  woman,  knew  the 
object  of  Hicks's  letter  and  dismissed  the  books 
with  a  line.  She  devoted  a  page  to  Mrs.  Lester, 
telling  Hicks  that  she  was  in  Europe,  but  would  be 
home  in  a  few  months.  She  was  the  guest  of  some 
very  fashionable  people  in  Trouville,  Mrs.  Lake 
said. 

Moreover,  Mrs.  Lake  did  more  than  that,  for,  in 
her  next  letter  to  Mrs.  Lester,  she  said:  "Do  you 
remember  Mr.  Hicks?  I  had  a  letter  from  him 

209 


210  THE    FAKERS 

the  other  day,  and  he  inquired  about  you.  Evi 
dently,  you  made  an  impression  on  him." 

Mrs.  Lester  had  to  go  somewhere  each  summer, 
and  she  was  well  aware  it  was  cheaper  to  go  to 
Europe,  as  she  went,  than  to  visit  American  resorts 
of  the  class  she  would  visit.  She  lived  at  a  pen 
sion  in  Paris,  but  each  afternoon  she  took  tea  at 
the  most  fashionable  places.  She  wrote  her  letters 
on  her  own  embossed  stationery,  and  told  of  the 
people  she  was  meeting  at  the  big  hotels  and  in 
the  great  restaurants,  and  that  helped  her  to  keep 
up  appearances  at  home. 

She  smiled  when  she  read  Mrs.  Lake's  letter. 
"Hicks,"  she  said,  "egotistical  Tommie!  Why,  I 
must  send  him  a  card,"  and  she  did,  a  picture  of 
Napoleon's  tomb,  with  a  few  words  of  casual  greet 
ing  on  it.  Hicks  was  pleased  with  the  card,  and 
thought  of  writing  to  her,  but  there  was  no  address 
and  he  decided  he  would  await  events. 

Mrs.  Lester's  dearest  ambition  was  to  marry 
some  one  with  a  title,  but  her  opportunities  for  meet 
ing  titled  persons — except  in  her  conversation — were 
limited.  She  was,  of  necessity,  put  to  it  to  make 
an  elaborate  personal  showing  on  a  small  income, 
and,  although  she  constantly  watched  for  oppor 
tunities,  she  knew  in  her  heart  that  her  trips  abroad 
were  of  most  value  in  a  matrimonial  way,  because 
of  the  opportunities  they  gave  her  for  impressive 
talk  at  home,  and  because  she  could  live  cheaply 
in  Paris,  and  elsewhere,  and  could  refurnish  her 
wardrobe  to  a  greater  advantage  than  in  the  United 
States. 

She  met  a  Russian  woman  who  was  much  taken 
by  her  vivacity  and  her  stylish  appearance,  and  who 
invited  her  to  come  to  St.  Petersburg  to  be  her 
guest.  Mrs.  Lester  went  to  stay  a  month,  and 
stayed  six  months,  thereby  deriving  much  informa- 


THE    FAKERS  211 

tion  and  local  color  for  her  future  references  to  her 
close  association  with  the  high  personages  of  Rus 
sia.  She  maintained  her  figure  fairly  well,  and 
was  assiduous  in  the  conversation  and  cultivation  of 
her  other  physical  excellencies.  She  made  a  con 
stant  appraisement  of  all  the  eligible  men  she  met, 
and  never  found  exactly  the  right  one.  However, 
she  enjoyed  herself  immensely,  although  she  often 
considered  herself  carefully  in  her  mirror,  and 
thought  that  she  must  be  making  haste  if  she  was 
to  realize  her  ambitions  through  the  medium  of  her 
charms. 

She  was  as  devoid  of  sentiment  as  an  unsexed 
woman.  Her  whole  attitude  toward  men  was  to 
use  them  for  her  personal  entertainment  and  for 
what  she  could  get  out  of  them  in  the  way  of  at 
tention,  gifts,  social  advantages  and  company  for 
her  idle  hours.  Within  she  was  cold  and  calculat 
ing,  but  she  could  assume  an  ingenuous  air  that  was 
of  a  certain  value  with  the  male  sex,  and  she  was 
always  bright  and  vivacious,  with  an  endless  supply 
of  small  talk,  and  a  knowledge  of  international  so 
cial  affairs  that  she  kept  fresh  by  assiduous  reading 
of  all  society  publications.  When  the  time  came  she 
was  confident  she  could  play  at  being  in  love  with 
sufficient  fervor  to  answer  whatever  the  require 
ments  wrere,  but  the  idea  of  falling  in  love,  really, 
never  crossed  her  mind.  That  was  outside  of  her 
plans  and  purposes. 

She  gravitated  between  Washington  and  Europe 
for  the  next  five  years.  She  was  not  without  ardent 
admirers,  but  none  of  these. men,  with  whom  she 
flirted  as  much  or  little  as  the  circumstances  seemed 
— to  her — to  warrant,  had  enough  position  or 
enough  money  to  suit  her  demands.  When  she 
was  in  Washington  she  went  to  every  big  social 
function  she  could.  Her  acquaintance  with  the 


212  THE    FAKERS 

statesmen  living  with  Mrs.  Lake  generally  secured 
her  cards  for  the  White  House  receptions  and  for 
other  affairs  of  a  general  kind.  Two  or  three  im 
pressionable  young  men  had  offered  her  their  hands 
and  hearts,  but  they  had  nothing  in  their  hands  and 
she  ignored  what  they  said  they  had  in  their  hearts. 
She  kept  her  pose  as  the  years  went  on,  but  each 
year  found  the  keeping  of  it  a  little  more  laborious, 
and  this  increased  her  desire  for  a  marriage  that 
would  give  her  position,  and  money,  or,  if  not  so 
much  money,  at  least  position,  and  she  was  relentless 
on  the  trail,  but  found  the  quarry  elusive. 

She  heard  of  Hicks  occasionally,  through  Mrs. 
Lake,  for  Hicks  always  went  to  Mrs.  Lake's  when 
he  visited  in  Washington.  Two  or  three  times  he 
had  sent  her  papers  containing  reports  of  his 
speeches,  and  she  had  acknowledged  these  in  short, 
almost  impersonal  notes,  that  gave  Hicks  no  chance 
for  replies,  even  if  he  had  wanted  to  open  a  corre 
spondence.  He  thought  little  about  her,  and  she 
thought  less  of  him,  but  she  was  much  interested 
when  Mrs.  Lake  told  her  Hicks  was  getting  on 
in  Rextown,  and  was  almost  sure  to  make  a  name 
for  himself  in  politics. 

Hicks  was  busy  during  those  five  years,  and  busier 
during  the  two  or  three  that  followed.  He  grew 
to  be  an  accomplished  protagonist  of  the  rights  of 
the  people,  and  had  taken  part  in  State  campaigns. 
He  never  lost  his  hold  on  the  workingmen,  and  he 
never  ceased  trying  to  establish  himself  with  the 
farmers.  He  did  not  try  to  mix  in  the  fashion 
able  society  of  the  city,  although  he  had  a  fixed 
idea  that  if  he  should  determine  to  become  a  social 
light  he  would  storm  every  citadel  and  soon  be  hailed 
as  a  leader  and  received  at  the  best  houses  among 
the  socially  elect.  He  felt  that  one  day  he  would 
be  secure  enough  in  his  position  to  take  his  rightful 


THE    FAKERS  213 

place  in  the  select  society  of  Rextown,  and  had 
firm  faith  that  he  possessed  all  the  attributes  that 
would  make  him  the  courted  and  feted  favorite 
should  he  devote  himself  to  that  branch  of  human  in 
tercourse.  He  read  the  society  news  in  the  papers 
daily  and  watched  the  comings  and  going  of  the 
personages.  He  was  obsequious  to  any  social  leader 
he  chanced  to  meet  and,  at  heart,  would  have  been 
extremely  gratified  to  be  mentioned  in  the  social 
news  as  "among  those  present"  at  the  great 
functions. 

For  business  and  political  reasons  he  scorned  the 
frivolities  of  the  day  and  frequently  deplored  in 
public  addresses  the  tendencies  of  the  times,  which, 
he  said,  were  leading  the  young  people  far  away 
from  the  ideals  of  their  fathers.  He  preached  pro 
hibition,  but  refused  to  identify  himself  with  the 
political  aspect  of  that  movement,  holding  it  was  a 
social  reform,  and,  in  order  to  keep  himself  right 
with  his  workingrnen  constituents,  that  men  should 
have  a  reasonable  measure  of  personal  liberty.  He 
came  out  emphatically  for  woman's  suffrage,  was  for 
the  full  extension  of  the  popular  government,  and 
endorsed  all  anti-vice  crusades. 

Rollins  continued  to  believe  in  Hicks,  scoffed  at 
stories  that  came  to  him  about  the  self-seeking  and 
lack  of  conviction  of  his  friend,  and  considered 
him  a  brilliant  young  man  who  was  willing  to 
sacrifice  self  for  the  sake  of  his  principles.  He 
made  a  combination  whereby  Hicks  was  nominated 
for  the  State  senate,  which  gave  Hicks  another 
opportunity  to  go  out  and  pose  as  the  people's 
friend  among  the  people,  and  when  Hicks  was 
thirty-three  and  again  when  he  was  thirty-five  Rol 
lins  procured  for  him  the  empty  honors  of  nomina 
tions  for  Congress  in  the  Rextown  district.  The 
Rextown  district  had  been  represented  by  a  Repub- 


214  THE    FAKERS 

lican  since  the  Civil  War,  and  there  appeared  to 
be  no  chance  of  any  but  a  Republican  ever  repre 
senting  it,  but  Hicks  had  long  before  learned  the 
value  of  claiming  kinship  in  politics,  and  he  traced 
out  for  himself  several  advantageous  lineages  which 
he  used  discreetly. 

Senator  Paxton,  who  was  speaking  in  the  State 
one  fall,  heard  Hicks  and  noted  his  claim  of  a 
grandfather  from  Kerry  and  a  grandmother  from 
the  Rhine. 

"Tommie,"  he  said,  "you  seem  to  have  an  un 
usually  variegated  set  of  ancestors." 

"Isn't  it  so?"  Hicks  replied.  "I  have  tied  up 
with  Ireland,  Germany,  England,  Wales  and  Hol 
land,  but  when  I  first  got  down  in  the  mining  dis 
trict  I  thought  I  was  lost.  I  hadn't  provided  my 
self  with  any  Polish  blood." 

"What  did  you  do?" 

"Oh,  I  said  a  few  kind  words  for  Kosciusko; 
and  that  helped  a  lot." 

"It's  lucky  for  you  you're  not  running  up  in  the 
Northwest,"  laughed  Paxton.  "You'd  be  put  to  it 
to  organize  a  Scandinavian  ancestry." 

"I  don't  know  as  I  would,  when  it  comes  to 
that,"  Hicks  replied.  "The  Hicks  are  a  great  peo 
ple  and  have  lived  in  many  lands." 

"You'll  lose  this  time  of  course." 

"Yes,  but  not  many  times  more.  There's  a 
change  coming,  Senator,  sure  as  you  are  standing 
there." 

•Paxton  became  serious.  "I  wouldn't  be  sur 
prised  if  you  are  right,"  he  said.  "It's  sort  of  in  the 
air." 

Hicks  was  right.  Although  he  was  beaten  he 
had  more  votes  the  second  time  he  ran  for  Con 
gress  than  were  cast  for  him  the  first  time.  He 
claimed  the  nomination  for  the  third  time,  and  Rol- 


THE    FAKERS  215 

lins  gave  it  to  him.  Hicks  made  an  earnest  cam 
paign,  and  cut  down  his  Republican  competitor's 
plurality  by  more  than  a  thousand  votes. 

Political  sentiment  was  changing  throughout  the 
country.  Several  States  had  passed  laws  for  direct 
primaries  and  one  or  two  had  adopted  the  initiative 
and  the  referendum.  The  oligarchy  that  controlled 
the  Government  in  Washington,  where  Congress 
was  Republican  in  both  branches,  and  the  President 
was  a  Republican,  had  paid  no  heed  to  the  growing 
discontent  in  the  country,  but  had  gone  along,  de 
fiantly  and  arrogantly,  repudiating  pledges  made 
and  party  platforms  for  the  purpose  of  catching 
votes,  legislating  for  the  special  interests,  utterly 
indifferent  to  the  claims  of  the  people.  The  spirit 
of  revolt  was  fostered  by  skillful  agitators,  and  by 
men  who  were  in  no  sense  agitators,  but  were  op 
posed,  on  principle,  to  the  continued  domination  of 
a  great  party  by  a  few  selfish  individuals.  Rollins, 
and  others  of  the  Democratic  leaders  throughout 
the  State,  felt  certain  a  Democratic  governor  and 
State  ticket  could  be  elected  at  the  next  general 
election,  which  was  to  be  held  in  the  following 
November,  and  began  the  work  of  organization 
and  preparation.  Rollins  contributed  liberally  to 
the  funds.  He  took  Hicks  to  a  State  committee 
meeting  with  him,  and  to  various  conferences  be 
tween  leading  Democrats  in  cities  here  and  there. 

Candidates  for  governor  began  to  appear.  Rol 
lins  and  a  strong  combination  in  the  State  committee 
favored  the  nomination  of  Enos  G.  Mulford,  a 
Democrat  from  the  western  tier  of  counties,  who 
was  a  man  of  high  standing,  absolute  integrity, 
some  wealth,  and  held  in  sincere  regard  by  the 
people.  Another  combination  was  made  for  Peter 
R.  Dawson,  who  lived  in  Yorkville,  one  of  the  larger 
cities,  and  who  had  been  active  in  maintaining  the 


216  THE    FAKERS 

Democratic  organization  through  the  lean  years. 
Dawson  was  a  lawyer,  was  the  leader  in  his  terri 
tory,  a  shrewd  politician,  and  able,  although  some 
what  unscrupulous.  In  addition  several  favorite 
sons  of  various  localities  were  in  the  running,  but 
Mulford  and  Dawson  were  easily  in  the  lead. 

As  they  were  returning  to  Rextown  one  day,  after 
a  conference  of  the  Mulford  men,  Hicks  said  to 
Rollins:  "Not  enough  delegates  in  sight  yet  to 
make  Mulford's  nomination  certain." 

"Oh,  I  guess  we  can  get  them,"  replied  Rollins 
easily. 

"I'm  not  so  sure  of  that.  Dawson  has  a  lot  of 
strength.  It  looks  to  me  as  if  there  would  be  a 
long-drawn  deadlock,  for  there  are  half  a  dozen 
others  who  will  have  votes  in  the  convention." 

"Well,  we'll  win,"  Rollins  asserted,  confidently. 

"But,"  continued  Hicks,  "we  don't  want  to  win 
after  a  big  fight,  with  a  deadlock  and  all  the  sore 
ness  that  will  ensue.  It  will  hurt  us  to  win  in  that 
manner.  What  we  want  is  a  harmonious  conven 
tion  that  shall  name  a  man  who  can  compose  the 
differences  between  all  factions.  It  seems  a  shame 
to  throw  away  this  opportunity  by  squabbling  over 
a  candidate  for  governor." 

Rollins  made  no  comment. 

"And,"  Hicks  went  on,  "it  is  a  shame,  especially 
when  there  is  a  solution,  especially  when  there  is  a 
man  who  can  harmonize  all  difficulties  and  who 
would  sweep  the  State." 

"Who?"  asked  Rollins,  regarding  Hicks  with 
mild  interest. 

"Myself." 

"You!"  Rollins  was  incredulous.  "Do  you  mean 
yourself — Hicks  ?" 

"I  mean  myself — T.  Marmaduke  Hicks.  I  have 
more  strength  than  any  candidate  yet  proposed.  I 


THE    FAKERS  217 

am  known  from  one  end  of  the  State  to  the  other, 
and  I  have  greater  qualifications  than  either  Mul- 
ford  or  Dawson.  I  am  closer  to  the  people,  the 
plain  people  whose  rights  we  must  conserve." 

"I'm  sorry,"  said  Rollins,  "but  it  can't  be  done. 
We  are  for  Mulford,  first,  last  and  all  the  time." 

"Why  can't  it  be  done?"  asked  Hicks,  passion 
ately.  "Here  I  have  sacrificed  myself  for  years 
and  years  on  the  altar  of  Democracy.  I  have  taken 
the  thankless  tasks.  I  have  borne  the  heat  and 
burden  of  the  fight.  I  have  given  the  best  that  is 
in  me.  I  have  held  the  standard  aloft.  I  have 
kept  the  faith.  Why  can't  it  be  done?  It  can 
be  done  if  you  will  step  in  behind  me,  step  in  be 
hind  the  man  who  has  supported  you  loyally  all 
these  years.  Why  can't  it  be  done?" 

"Because,"  answered  Rollins,  slowly  and  gently, 
"because  we  have  passed  our  word  to  Mulford, 
because  you  are  young  and  can  afford  to  wait,  be 
cause  we  have  pledged  ourselves,  and  our  delegates 
to  another  man,  because  political  honesty  and  po 
litical  decency  and  political  obligations  all  forbid 
it.  That's  why  it  can't  be  done,  Hicks,  and  there's 
no  need  to  talk  about  it  further." 

"I  fail  to  see  it  in  that  light,"  urged  Hicks. 
"You  want  to  win.  I  am  the  strongest  man.  I 
deserve  the  nomination,  or  your  help  to  get  it. 
How  would  it  be  a  violation  of  pledges  if  I  an 
nounced  myself?  We  could  explain  we  went  to 
Mulford  before  I  decided  to  become  a  candidate 
and  that  my  coming  in  changes  the  entire  situation. 
I  could  have  the  delegates  from  our  district  by 
right,  as  that  is  where  I  live.  You  can  make  the 
combination  for  me  and,"  he  said,  eagerly,  "you 
can  promise  anything  you  like  in  my  behalf  and  I'll 
carry  out  every  promise  you  make." 

"No,"  Rollins  replied  firmly.     "It's  no  use  talk- 


218  THE    FAKERS 

ing,  Hicks.  You  must  wait.  We've  got  to  go 
through  for  Mulford.  Possibly  I  can  get  you  on 
for  attorney-general  if  you  like." 

"Not  for  me!"  protested  Hicks.  "I  deserve  the 
nomination  for  governor,  and  you  know  it.  That 
or  nothing." 

"Then  it  will  be  nothing,"  asserted  Rollins,  with 
more  force  than  Hicks  ever  had  seen  him  display. 
"You  can't  have  that  nomination  for  governor.  It's 
absurd.  You  are  going  as  delegate  for  Mulford 
and  that's  settled.  Don't  be  foolish,  now.  Get 
in  line." 

Hicks  sulked  all  the  way  home.  Rollins's  char 
acterization  of  his  ambition  as  "absurd"  rankled. 
He  felt  injured,  abused,  slighted.  He  thought  his 
preeminent  abilities  were  strangely  underestimated 
by  Rollins.  He  wanted  to  bolt,  but  prudence  re 
strained  him.  He  said  no  more  about  the  matter, 
but  he  thought  of  it  for  several  days,  and  with  that 
thinking  came  a  stronger  sense  of  injury. 

"What  will  Mulford  do  for  me  if  he  is  elected?" 
he  asked  Rollins  one  day. 

"I  don't  know,  he'll  do  anything,"  Rollins  an 
swered.  "We  haven't  asked  him  for  any  pledges, 
and  he  isn't  the  kind  of  a  man  who  would  give 
pledges  if  we  did  ask  him  for  them.  That  must 
abide  the  event." 

This  reply  increased  the  sense  of  personal  in 
jury  felt  by  Hicks  because  of  the  refusal  of  Rol 
lins  to  espouse  his  cause.  He  brooded  over  it  for 
several  days.  His  pride  was  hurt.  He  was  posi 
tive  he  was  the  strongest  man  who  could  be  named 
for  governor;  that  he  could  sweep  the  State.  Rol 
lins  continued  firm  for  Mulford,  and  Hicks  knew 
without  Rollins  he  could  get  nowhere  in  a  revolt. 
He  could  not  understand  why  Rollins  had  taken 
no  pledges  from  Mulford,  or  why  Rollins  said  Mul- 


THE    FAKERS  219 

ford  wasn't  the  kind  of  man  to  give  pledges.  Hicks 
thought,  in  the  circumstances,  he  would  promise  any 
thing  to  anybody  for  votes,  and  do  as  he  pleased 
about  keeping  the  promises  afterwards. 

Hicks  felt  his  own  importance.  He  had  grown 
to  be  the  dominating  factor  in  the  law-firm  of  Chit- 
tlings  and  Hicks,  and  Chittlings  knew  it  and  did  not 
protest  much  when  Hicks  insisted  the  name  and 
style  of  the  firm  must  be  changed  to  Hicks,  Chit- 
lings  and  Wilson,  to  provide  for  a  lawyer  Hicks 
desired  to  take  in,  a  good  lawyer,  but  not  a  suc 
cess  of  himself.  Gudger  was  retained,  because,  be 
tween  sprees,  he  was  of  tremendous  value.  Hicks 
was  kind  to  Gudger,  and  helped  him  through  the 
sickness  that  came  after  each  debauch.  Gudger 
thought  Hicks  the  most  wonderful  man  in  the  State. 

Hicks's  friends  in  the  outside  wards  stood  by 
him.  He  was  vigilant  in  pursuing  actions  against 
all  sorts  of  corporations.  He  had  established  a 
reputation  for  this  sort  of  thing,  aided  by  the  bril 
liance  of  the  law-work  of  Gudger,  and  had  secured 
several  big  cases  outside  of  Rextown.  He  had 
grown  to  be  a  plausible,  showy  attorney,  and  while 
his  fellow-practitioners  despised  his  lack  of  legal 
learning  they  envied  his  skill  at  securing  business 
and  the  successes  he  had. 

He  was  strong  in  criminal  work,  too,  and  was 
locally  famous  for  being  powerful  before  a  jury 
where  his  consider-the-helpless-mother-and-her-babes 
oratory  was  most  effective.  He  usually  was  re 
tained  for  the  defense  in  big  criminal  cases,  and 
he  extorted  fees  to  the  last  dollar  for  his  work  in 
saving  thieves,  murderers  and  other  malefactors 
from  justice.  In  his  early  days  he  took  criminal 
cases  on  contingent  fees,  but,  of  late,  he  demanded 
and  received  large  sums  in  advance.  With  Chit 
tlings  to  do  the  outside  work  and  get  the  evidence 


220  THE    FAKERS 

and  prepare  the  alibis  and  fix  such  juries  as  could  be 
fixed,  Gudger  to  find  flaws  in  indictments  and  evolve 
technicalities  and  helpful  quibbles,  and  Hicks  to  do 
the  posturing  and  posing  and  weeping  before  the 
juries,  the  combination  w&s  a  strong  one,  and 
prosperous. 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

TWO  weeks  before  the  primaries  to  select 
delegates  to  the  State  convention  Hicks, 
his  grievance  against  Rollins  still  rank 
ling,  went  over  to  Yorkville,   Dawson's 
home   city.      He   announced   his    arrival 
by  telephone  to  the  local  newspapers  and  they  sent 
their  political  reporters  to  see  him.     He  gave  the 
reporters    an   interview   which    dwelt   at   length   on 
the  day  of  reckoning  that  surely  was  coming  for 
the  corrupt  Republican  party,  prophesied  sweeping 
Democratic    success — "it's    in    the    air,"    he    said — 
praised  Mulford  and   asserted  he  would  be  nomi 
nated,  although,  he  said,  he  allowed  no  person  to 
claim   greater   admiration   than    his    for   Peter    R. 
Dawson,  the  honored  son  of  Yorkville,  at  whose  De 
mocracy  no  man  could  cavil  and  whose  standard  he 
would  gladly  follow  should  he  be  nominated. 

Dawson  saw  the  interview.  "What's  that  fellow 
Hicks  doing  here,  I  wonder?"  he  asked  his  man 
ager. 

"Dunno,"  that  person  replied.  "Why  don't  you 
drop  down  to  the  hotel  and  sound  him  out?" 

Dawson  walked  to  the  Mansion  House  where 
Hicks  was  stopping.  Hicks  knew  he  would  come. 
And  he  was  waiting  to  receive  him  in  his  room. 

"Mr.    Dawson  to   see   Mr.   Hicks,"   the   girl   at 
the  telephone  notified  Hicks. 
"Ask  him  to  come  up,  please." 
Dawson  went  up  and  Hicks  received  him  with 
221 


222  THE    FAKERS 

great  cordiality.  They  talked  about  general  po 
litical  prospects  for  a  time  and  then  Dawson  said: 
"Any  particular  importance  to  your  visit  at  this 
time,  Mr.  Hicks?" 

"Oh,  no;  I  had  a  little  business  here.  I  am  very 
glad  you  came.  I  would  have  called  on  you  to 
pay  my  respects  only  I  was  afraid  those  political 
reporters  might  misconstrue  my  intentions.  They 
are  very  quick  to  print  stories  of  deals  and  plans 
and  schemes,  and  all  that,  you  know,  when,  of 
course,"  and  he  smiled  broadly  at  Dawson,  "no 
deals  possibly  could  be  in  contemplation,  unless,  of 
course,  you  should  come  out  for  Mulford." 

"I  could  hardly  do  that,"  laughed  Dawson,  "for 
I'm  going  to  beat  you  Mulford  fellows,  you  know, 
beat  you  hands  down." 

"Don't  be  too  sure,"  cautioned  Hicks.  "You 
haven't  enough  delegates  yet,  and  you  know  it, 
and  so  do  I.  You  have  deals  to  make  before  you 
can  win." 

Dawson  regarded  Hicks  closely.  "What's  he 
driving  at?"  he  thought. 

Then,  as  if  to  put  it  to  the  touch,  he  said: 
"Maybe  you  could  put  me  in  the  way  of  getting 
what  I  need,  Mr.  Hicks,  if  I  made  it  an  object  to 
you.'; 

Hicks  got  up,  walked  over  to  the  door,  turned 
the  key,  looked  into  the  closet  and  pulled  down 
the  window-shade. 

His  whole  manner  changed.  His  eyes  were  cold 
and  narrowed  to  slits.  His  face  hardened. 

"How  much  of  an  object?"  he  asked. 

"Depends  on  what  you  can  do,"  said  Dawson. 

"Suppose  at  the  proper  time,  I  can  throw  our 
delegation  to  you?" 

"That  is  a  proposition  worth  considering." 

"Well,  consider  it,  then." 


THE    FAKERS  223 

"What  would  you  want?" 

"Dawson,"  said  Hicks,  "let  me  give  you  a  few 
thoughts.  Mind  now,  I  am  making  no  promises 
or  propositions,  but  let  me  state  a  hypothetical 
situation :  Suppose  there  is  a  deadlock  in  that  con 
vention,  as  there  will  be;  suppose  you  pick  off  some 
of  the  favorite-son  votes,  as  you  can,  for  you  have 
shrewd  managers,  and  plenty  of  money;  suppose  you 
need  about  twenty  or  thirty  votes  to  win;  suppose 
it  should  be  arranged  that  at  the  psychological  mo 
ment  those  votes  should  come  to  you  and  insure 
your  nomination;  suppose  you  should  be  elected; 
suppose,  along  in  your  term,  Henry  M.  Filkins, 
the  present  United  States  Senator  from  this  State, 
or  one  of  them,  and  now  in  most  feeble  health, 
should  die,  and  die  at  such  a  time  that  you  would 
have  an  appointment  of  a  Senator  ad  interim — sup 
pose  all  this.  Now,  then,  in  case  all  these  things 
happened  for  you,  would  you  appoint  the  man  who 
brought  them  about  to  the  vacancy  in  the  Senate 
caused  by  the  death  of  Senator  Filkins,  or  if  that 
vacancy  shouldn't  come  opportunely,  would  you  give 
him  something  equally  as  good?" 

Dawson  chewed  on  his  cigar.  "I  take,  Mr. 
Hicks,"  he  said,  finally,  "that  your  interest  in  this 
hypothetical  situation  is  based  largely  on  the  identity 
of  the  man  who  can  do  these  things." 

"It  is  based  on  that  entirely." 

"And  it  is  fair  for  me  to  assume  that  man  might, 
in  certain  circumstances,  be  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks, 
of  Rextown." 

"That  is  a  fair  assumption." 

"Well,"  said  Dawson  slowly,  "if  that  situation 
should  exist,  and  should  be  met  in  the  manner  you 
describe,  and  that  contingency  based  on  the  vacancy 
should  arise,  I  would  name  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks 
for  the  place." 


224  THE    FAKERS 

"And  what  assurance  has  Mr.  Hicks  that  this 
will  be  done?" 

"He  has  the  word  of  Peter  Dawson,  which  is  as 
good  as  his  bond." 

Hicks  looked  fixedly  at  Dawson. 

"Mr.  Hicks  will  accept  that  as  security,"  he  said, 
"and,  of  course,  Dawson,"  he  continued,  as  if  it 
all  were  a  joke,  "nothing  we  have  said  is  to  be 
repeated  outside  of  this  room,  for  the  situation  may 
not  arise,  and  old  Filkins  may  get  well." 

"However,"  Dawson  replied,  "if  it  does  arise 
Mr.  Dawson  will  do  his  part  if  Mr.  Hicks  does 
his." 

They  talked  for  half  an  hour  about  delegations, 
the  strength  of  various  candidates  and  such  matters 
and  Hicks  returned  to  Rextown  on  the  evening  train. 

Hicks  had  a  considerable  personal  following  in 
Rextown  and  the  county.  He  had  fostered  that 
adroitly,  while  pretending  to  subordinate  himself 
to  Rollins.  In  making  up  the  slate  for  delegates  to 
the  convention  he  so  manipulated  things,  flattered 
and  cajoled  Rollins,  that  out  of  the  thirty  delegates 
for  Corliss  County,  eighteen  were  men  Hicks  knew 
would  follow  him  instead  of  Rollins.  Hicks  relied 
mostly  for  aid  on  Mike  McGinnis,  a  labor  leader 
who  was  his  friend  and  under  many  obligations  to 
him,  but  he  saw  all  these  delegates  personally,  made 
them  promise  to  rely  on  him,  and  he  asked,  as  a 
special  favor,  that  Rollins  allow  him  to  make  the 
nominating  speech  for  Mulford.  He,  apparently, 
had  recovered  entirely  from  his  disappointment  be 
cause  Rollins  would  not  try  to  nominate  him,  and 
Rollins  said  he  would  fix  it  for  Hicks.  Hicks  pre 
pared  a  spread-eagle  speech,  two-thirds  about  the 
sterling  principles  of  the  party  and  the  Republican 
criminal,  or  worse,  maladministration  of  State  and 
national  affairs,  few  lines  about  the  fight  he  had 


THE    FAKERS  225 

been  waging  himself,  and  a  high-sounding  eulogy  of 
JVIulford.  Although  he  was  accustomed  to  public 
speaking  he  had  never  spoken  before  at  a  State 
convention,  and  he  practiced  every  gesture  many 
times  before  his  mirror,  and  sought  for  proper  em 
phasis  for  hours  and  hours. 

The  convention  had  a  confident  we're-going-to- 
win  air,  vastly  different  from  former  Democratic 
state  gatherings,  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  doubt 
of  it.  As  Hicks  told  the  reporter  in  Yorkville, 
victory  was  in  the  air.  The  delegates  were  en 
thusiastic,  and  the  strife  for  nomination  exceed 
ingly  keen  because  of  this  universal  expectancy  of 
triumph. 

The  preliminaries  were  soon  over.  Temporary 
organization  was  effected,  and  after  a  recess,  the 
various  committees  reported,  including  the  com 
mittee  on  resolutions  which  presented  a  long  and — 
as  the  partisan  papers  said — ringing  declaration  of 
principles. 

The  permanent  chairman  made  his  speech  and 
nominations  were  in  order.  The  counties  were 
called.  When  Corliss  was  reached  T.  Marmaduke 
Hicks  rose  and  hurried  to  the  platform.  He  wore 
a  frock-coat,  his  tie  was  ever  more  flowing  over  his 
bosom,  his  long  hair  was  glossy  with  continued 
brushing,  his  face  was  pale,  but  the  light  in  his  little 
greenish  eyes  showed  he  thought  his  opportunity 
was  at  hand.  Hicks  was  entirely  self-possessed. 
He  stood  waiting  while  the  chairman  secured  order, 
gazing  out  at  the  delegates,  who  regarded  him  with 
mild  interest  and  asked  one  another  who  he  was. 
After  the  chairman  had  ceased  pounding  with  his 
gavel  Hicks  held  up  a  right  hand  as  if  to  still  the 
noisy  ones,  and  began:  "Fellow-Democrats  and 
delegates  here  assembled." 

He  made  an  excellent  impression.     His  oratory 


226  THE    FAKERS 

was  fervid,  his  voice  carried  well,  and  his  gestures 
were  graceful  and  timely.  He  was  appallingly  in 
earnest.  He  made  it  clear  to  those  delegates  that 
unless  they  named  Enos  G.  Mulford  they  hadn't  a 
chance  to  win. 

Hicks,  skilfully  waiting  until  the  end  to  name 
his  man,  shouted:  "Than  whom  there  is  no  greater 
patriot,  no  purer  and  more  upright  citizen,  no  more 
powerful  lawyer — than  whom  there  is  no  higher 
exemplar  of  all  that  is  best  in  American  citizen 
ship — than  whom  no  Democrat  stands  higher  in 
the  party — fellow-Democrats,  now  on  the  eve  of 
victory,  I  pray  you  to  make  that  victory  doubly 
sure  by  nominating  as  your  candidate  for  governor 
that  able,  upright,  magnificent  American  and  Demo 
crat,  Enos  Gilman  Mulford,  of  Spencer  County." 

The  Mulford  delegates  rose  and  cheered  wildly. 
Those  on  the  platform  shook  hands  with  the  per 
spiring  Hicks,  and  congratulated  him  on  a  "mas 
terly  effort."  When  he  returned  to  his  seat,  which 
he  did  not  do  so  long  as  there  was  a  hand  clap 
or  a  hand  clasp,  Rollins  hugged  him. 

"Fine!"  he  exclaimed;  "fine;  my  boy  I  am  proud 
of  you." 

The  other  candidates  were  placed  in  nomination 
by  equally  strenuous  and  eloquent  orators  and  the 
first  ballot  was  taken.  Dawson  led,  Mulford  was 
second  and  each  of  half  a  dozen  favorite  sons  had 
votes.  There  was  no  choice.  Another  ballot  was 
ordered  with  the  same  result,  and  another.  Then 
the  favorites  began  to  drop  out,  except  two  per 
sistent  ones,  whose  backers  foresaw  a  deadlock  and 
figured  on  getting  them  in  the  running  after  a  few 
more  ballots. 

There  was  an  adjournment  after  the  tenth  ballot. 
Dawson  still  led.  He  lacked  forty-two  votes  of 
enough.  Mulford  was  steady.  He  had  gained  a 


THE    FAKERS  227 

few  from  the  shifts  from  favorite  sons.  All  that 
night  earnest  and  excited  partisans  of  Mulford  and 
Dawson  sought  to  get  additional  delegates,  to  coax 
them,  to  buy  them,  to  secure  them  by  any  means  in 
their  power.  Hicks  met  Dawson  at  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning. 

"I  see  by  the  papers,"  said  Hicks,  "that  Filkins 
is  failing." 

"So  I  see,"  said  Dawson,  and  passed  on. 

The  convention  met  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing.  There  was  another  ballot  with  no  result. 
The  twelfth,  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  ballots 
showed  few  changes.  On  the  fourteenth  Dawson 
gained  ten.  These  shifted  to  Mulford  on  the  fif 
teenth  ballot.  Then  they  adjourned  until  eight 
o'clock  that  night.  Hicks  had  insisted  on  the  unit 
rule  for  the  Corliss  delegation  so  that  delegation 
would  be  firm  for  Mulford,  he  said.  Rollins  didn't 
think  it  necessary,  inasmuch  as  he  had  faith  all  the 
Corliss  delegates  would  stand  for  Mulford  until  the 
last,  but  Hicks  persisted  and  Rollins  consented. 
The  unit  rule  made  it  imperative  for  the  Corliss 
delegation  to  vote  their  thirty  votes  without  division 
and  as  a  majority  of  the  delegation  should  dictate. 

There  was  another  ballot  at  eight  o'clock.  A 
break  to  Dawson  was  expected,  but  it  did  not  come. 
But  there  were  rumors  of  deals  and  more  excite 
ment.  The  delegates  were  tired,  hot,  dirty,  and 
anxious  to  get  away. 

Dawson,  sitting  with  the  Monroe  delegation,  re 
ceived  a  note,  handed  to  him  by  an  assistant  ser- 
geant-at-arms.  He  read:  "Move  for  a  recess  for 
an  hour  after  the  next  ballot,  for  caucusing.  Then 
I'll  perform." 

There  was  no  signature,  but  Dawson  looked 
across  at  Hicks,  who  was  watching  him  intently. 
Hicks  nodded  his  head.  Dawson  nodded  back,  and 


228  THE    FAKERS 

told  his  managers  to  move  for  a  recess  for  an  hour 
after  the  seventeenth  ballot. 

This  ballot  showed  no  change.  The  deadlock 
was  stubborn.  The  convention  took  the  recess,  and 
Hicks,  calling  McGinnis  aside,  told  him  to  go  to 
the  Corliss  County  caucus,  and  move  that  Corliss 
drop  Mulford  and  go  to  Dawson  in  the  next  ballot. 

"I've  seen  all  the  boys,"  said  Hicks,  "and  they 
will  stand."  He  handed  McGinnis  a  poll  list  of 
the  Corliss  delegation,  with  the  names  of  his  seven 
teen  followers  checked. 

"Of  course,  McGinnis,"  he  continued,  "I  can't 
take  part  in  this.  It  wouldn't  do  after  I  nominated 
Mulford,  but  there's  no  sense  in  staying  here  and 
endangering  our  success  by  this  deadlock.  You 
round  up  the  boys,  go  into  caucus  and  put  it  over. 
Say  I'm  sick." 

McGinnis  had  never  favored  Mulford,  and  had 
been,  at  heart,  for  Dawson.  He  was  quite  will 
ing  to  throw  the  delegates  from  Corliss  County  to 
Dawson,  and  was  eager  for  the  caucus.  He  was  a 
big,  brawny,  forceful  fellow,  and  had  full  control 
of  the  Hicks  delegates. 

"All  right,"  he  said,  "I'll  put  it  over,  but  don't 
let  Dawson  think  we're  doing  it  for  fun.  Get  some 
promises  out  of  him." 

"I'll  attend  to  that,"  Hicks  replied.  "You  go 
in  there  and  shove  it  across." 

"Mr.  Rollins,"  McGinnis  said  to  the  tired  leader, 
"the  boys  want  a  caucus." 

"What  for?"  asked  Rollins,  sharply.  "What 
have  we  to  caucus  about?" 

"Come  in  and  see,"  McGinnis  replied.  "They 
want  a  caucus." 

"You  can't  have  a  caucus,"  protested  Rollins. 
"There  is  no  need  of  one.  We're  going  to  stand 
by  Mulford  until  the  cows  come  home." 


THE    FAKERS  229 

"They're  coming  home  now,"  McGinnis  an 
swered.  "I  tell  you  the  boys  want  a  caucus,  and 
you'd  better  come  in,  or  we'll  caucus  without  you." 

Rollins  was  much  disturbed.  He  went  into  the 
caucus  room,  looked  around  at  the  dusty,  disheveled, 
weary  delegates  and  asked:  "Where's  Hicks?" 

"Where's  Hicks?"  he  shouted.  "I  need  him 
here.  Where  is  he?" 

"I  saw  him  a  short  time  ago,"  McGinnis  an 
swered.  "He  wasn't  feeling  very  well." 

Rollins,  standing  defiantly  before  the  delegates, 
glared  at  McGinnis.  "What  do  you  want  a  caucus 
for?"  he  demanded  again. 

"Because,"  McGinnis  answered,  "there's  a  lot 
of  us  feel  we've  done  all  that  can  be  expected  of 
us  in  standing  for  Mulford  this  far,  and  we  want 
to  get  out  and  get  home.  I  move  that  on  the  next 
ballot  Corliss  County  casts  her  thirty  votes  for 
Peter  Dawson." 

"Hold  on!"  protested  Rollins.  "You  can't  do 
that.  We're  pledged  to  Mulford." 

"Second  the  motion,"  shouted  two  or  three  of 
the  Hicks  delegates. 

Rollins,  greatly  agitated,  made  a  speech  urging 
the  delegates  to  be  loyal  to  Mulford,  a  passionate, 
imploring  speech,  telling  them  a  break  was  sure  to 
come  and  that  their  man  would  be  nominated. 
McGinnis  followed.  He  pointed  out  the  dangers 
to  party  success  that  would  ensue  from  this  long- 
continued,  acrimonious  deadlock,  said  they  had  sup 
ported  Mulford  as  long  as  was  necessary,  and  re 
newed  his  motion  that  the  vote  for  Corliss  County 
be  cast  for  Dawson  on  the  next  ballot. 

Rollins  begged,  pleaded,  implored.  He  cursed 
and  threatened,  but  McGinnis  and  his  followers 
stolidly  shouted,  "Vote!  Vote!" 

The  vote  was  taken.     Seventeen  delegates  voted 


23o  THE    FAKERS 

to  go  for  Dawson  on  the  next  ballot.  Twelve 
voted  to  stand  by  Mulford.  Rollins  wept. 

"Why  isn't  Hicks  here?"  he  asked  continuously. 

The  convention  reassembled.  The  roll-call  for 
the  next  ballot  began. 

"Corliss  County!"  shouted  the  secretary. 

Rollins  arose,  pale  and  trembling. 

"Corliss  County  casts  thirty  votes  for  Peter  R. 
Dawson,"  he  said,  in  a  voice  that  was  barely  audible. 

The  secretary  heard.  "Corliss  County  casts 
thirty  votes  for  Peter  R.  Dawson,"  he  shouted. 

Instantly,  the  Dawson  delegates  were  upon  their 
feet.  Their  cheers  rolled  and  rocked  against  the 
walls.  They  formed  into  a  long,  disorganized 
procession  and  marched  up  and  down  the  aisles 
screaming  with  joy.  The  Mulford  delegates  sat 
silent.  It  was  all  over.  Rollins  crouched  in  his 
chair.  He  was  beaten. 

The  break  became  a  stampede.  Mulford  coun 
ties  came  tumbling  to  Dawson,  one  after  the  other. 
Dawson  had  a  majority  before  the  roll  was  two- 
thirds  finished.  They  made  it  unanimous.  Then 
the  other  State  officers  were  named,  the  slate  of 
the  bosses  being  hurried  through. 

At  one  o'clock  next  morning  Rollins  sat  in  one 
of  the  two  rooms  he  and  Hicks  occupied.  The 
door  opened  and  Hicks  came  in,  pale,  weak, 
disheveled. 

"Where  were  you?"  asked  Rollins.  "Where 
were  you?" 

Hicks  staggered  across  the  room  and  fell,  gasp 
ing  on  the  bed. 

"Sick!"  he  moaned.  "Deathly  sick.  Acute  in 
digestion.  I  almost  died.  What  happened?" 

"Dawson  was  nominated,"  said  Rollins  bitterly, 
looking  at  the  moaning  man  on  the  bed,  "and  Cor 
liss  County  started  the  break  for  him." 


THE    FAKERS  231 

Hicks  struggled  to  his  feet.  "Oh,"  he  said  weakly, 
wringing  his  hands.  "Oh — oh — I  am  appalled! 
The  irony  of  fate!  That  this  should  have  hap 
pened  when  I  was  away.  I  might  have  helped  you 
prevent  it.  Oh — oh." 

"Go  to  bed,"  said  Rollins.  "It's  all  over  and 
it  can't  be  helped." 

And  he  left  the  room. 

"Queer  guy,  that  chap  who  came  out  here  at 
hr.lf-past  eight,"  said  Billings,  an  interne  at  the 
Mercy  Hospital  to  the  head  nurse.  "Landed  yell 
ing  in  pain,  all  doubled  up.  I  couldn't  find  anything 
the  matter  with  him,  but  he  insisted  on  having  the 
stomach  pump  used,  and  I  used  it  good  and  plenty." 

"Well,"  commented  the  head  nurse,  "if  he  wasn't 
sick  before  he  received  your  tender  ministrations 
he  certainly  was  afterwards." 


H 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

ICKS  looked  in  the  mirror  next  morning 
and  found  himself  normal  in  appear 
ance.  He  endeavored  to  seem  weak 
and  ill  when  he  had  breakfast  with 
Rollins.  There  was  little  conversation 
at  table.  Hicks  tried  several  times  to  interest  Rol 
lins  in  the  story  of  his  sickness,  but  Rollins,  appar 
ently,  had  a  line  of  thought  of  his  own,  and  refused 
to  be  concerned  in  Hicks's  remarks.  After  break 
fast  Rollins  said  he  had  some  men  to  see  before  the 
noon  train  left  for  Rextown,  and  went  away.  Hicks 
hurried  to  Dawson's  room. 

"Good  morning,  Governor,"  he  greeted  the  nomi 
nee,  in  his  most  effusive  manner. 
"Good  morning,"  said  Dawson. 
"Can  I  see  you  privately  for  a  moment?" 
Dawson  led  Hicks  into  a  rear  room  and  shut  the 
door.     He    turned    to    Hicks    and    asked    sharply, 
"What  is  it?" 

"Oh,"  said  Hicks,  "nothing  of  importance.  I 
merely  called  to  pay  my  respects  to  the  next  gov 
ernor  of  the  State." 

"Is  that  all?"  asked  Dawson  rather  contempt 
uously. 

"No,  since  you  speak  of  it,  it  isn't  all,"  said 
Hicks,  dropping  his  pretense  of  cordiality,  and 
speaking  with  slow  distinctness  in  a  voice  that  was 
cold  and  hard.  "It  isn't  all.  I  assume  you  are 

232 


THE    FAKERS  233 

under  no  misapprehension  as  to  how  you  were 
nominated." 

"None  whatever,"  Dawson  replied. 

"And  you  realize  your  obligation  to  me?" 

"Perfectly." 

"Which  is,  in  terms,"  Hicks  continued,  "that  if 
you  are  elected  and  a  vacancy  shall  occur  in  the 
Senatorship  owing  to  the  death  or  disability  of 
Senator  Filkins  I  am  to  have  the  appointment  for 
the  ad  interim  period,  and  if  such  a  vacancy  does 
not  occur  I  am  to  have  some  place  selected  by  my 
self  of  equal,  or  fairly  equal,  importance  by  appoint 
ment  at  your  hands?" 

"I  recognize  the  obligation  and  the  responsibility," 
Dawson  replied,  "although  I  am  not  particularly 
proud  of  either,  and  I  have  passed  my  word  to  you. 
That  is  all  there  is  to  it." 

"Very  well,"  continued  Hicks,  "I  consider  that 
settled.  Now,  then,  as  you  can  readily  appreciate, 
I  am  not  anxious  to  have  my  part  in  this  publicly 
known,  for  while  it  was  dictated  by  the  necessities 
of  politics  and  the  good  of  the  party,  there  are 
people  who  might  not  understand  my  motives." 

"That  is  quite  possible,"  replied  Dawson  with  a 
sneer  that  made  no  visible  impression  on  Hicks. 
"But  you  need  not  worry,  I  shall  say  nothing,  nor 
will  the  one  or  two  men  whom  I  took  into  my  con 
fidence  on  the  matter." 

"In  that  case,"  said  Hicks  assuming  his  unctuous 
air,  and  extending  his  hand  to  Dawson,  "I  wish  to 
add  my  hearty  and  sincere  congratulations  to  you 
on  your  well-deserved  victory  and  to  say  that  I 
shall  take  an  active  part  in  the  campaign  and  do 
all  within  my  power  to  accelerate  the  glorious  vic 
tory  that  is  sure  to  be  ours." 

Dawson  shook  hands  limply,  and  Hicks  left  the 
room. 


234  THE    FAKERS 

The  political  reporters  wrote  long  dispatches 
about  the  shift  of  Corliss  County  to  Dawson,  en 
deavoring  to  explain  it,  and  furnishing  many  rea 
sons,  none  of  which  was  correct.  They  saw  Daw- 
son  and  he  said  the  only  reason  he  knew  was  because 
Corliss  County  saw  Mulford  was  beaten,  and 
naturally  wanted  to  get  on  the  band-wagon.  He 
spoke  highly  of  Mulford  and  of  the  sterling  Democ 
racy  of  Corliss,  and  said  some  kind  things  about 
Rollins.  The  reporters  saw  Rollins.  He  had 
nothing  to  say  beyond  the  statement  that  Corliss 
worked  under  the  unit  rule  and  that  a  majority  of 
the  delegation  decided  Mulford  could  not  be  nomi 
nated  and  went  to  Dawson,  who  had  the  greater 
strength.  Hicks  disclaimed  all  knowledge  of  the 
causes  for  shift  and  regretted  it.  He  said  illness 
prevented  his  attendance  at  the  caucus  and  he  was 
not  informed  as  to  the  details,  but,  of  course,  recog 
nized  the  binding  force  of  the  unit  rule. 

The  Corliss  delegation  went  home  that  afternoon. 
Hicks  again  cautioned  McGinnis  to  say  nothing  of 
Hicks's  instructions  to  him,  and  McGinnis  said 
nothing.  The  other  delegates  who  had  voted  to 
go  to  Dawson  didn't  know  the  reason.  They  had 
done  as  McGinnis  had  advised. 

"McGinnis,"  asked  Rollins,  as  the  train  was  near- 
ing  Rextown,  "why  didn't  you  wait  before  you  ad 
vocated  that  flop  to  Dawson?  What  was  the 
hurry?" 

"What  was  the  use  of  waiting?"  McGinnis  re 
torted.  "We  were  tied  up  to  a  dead  one,  and  you 
know  it.  We  got  in  first  to  Dawson,  get  the  credit 
for  nominating  him,  and  we'll  cash  in  on  it  after  he 
is  elected.  It  wasn't  sentiment  with  me,  Mr.  Rol 
lins.  It  was  cold,  hard,  practical  politics." 

Rollins  sighed.  "I  suppose  so,"  he  said.  "But, 
McGinnis,  how  did  Hicks  stand  on  the  flop?" 


THE    FAKERS  235 

"I  don't  know,"  McGinnis  lied  loyally.  "He 
wasn't  there.  I  guess  he  would  have  consented, 
though,  just  as  you  did,  after  he  saw  the  majority 
of  the  delegation  was  for  Dawson." 

"Didn't  he  talk  to  you  about  it?" 

"He  wasn't  there,"  evaded  McGinnis.  "He  was 
sick  and  at  the  hospital." 

Rollins  was  disconsolate.  He  had  high  hopes  of 
winning  with  Mulford.  He  was  suspicious,  and  re 
solved  to  keep  a  sharp  watch  on  Hicks,  but  he  was 
shrewd  enough  not  to  change  his  attitude,  and  en 
tered  heartily  into  the  elaborate  plans  Hicks  was 
making  for  carrying  on  the  campaign  for  Dawson 
in  the  Rextown  district. 

Dawson  established  headquarters  in  Yorkville, 
the  State  committee  had  reorganized  and  the  Demo 
crats  claimed  a  confidence  which  the  Republicans  ad 
mitted,  privately,  was  justified.  Hicks  was  extremely 
active.  He  wrote  long  articles  for  the  Chronicle, 
made  speeches  whenever  he  could  get  a  chance,  and 
arranged  with  Haley,  the  head  of  the  speakers'  bu 
reau  at  headquarters,  to  go  out  over  the  State  during 
October.  He  thought  his  services  would  be  worth 
a  hundred  dollars  a  night  to  the  cause,  but  the 
headquarters  people  laughed  at  that,  and  he  con 
sented  to  go  for  his  expenses.  He  saw  Dawson 
frequently;  never  failed  to  give  him  copious  advice 
as  to  the  conduct  of  the  campaign;  prepared  a  series 
of  interviews  with  himself  on  the  general  situation, 
one  of  which  he  handed  to  every  reporter  he  met, 
and,  if  he  met  none,  which  he  sent  in  to  the  editors 
as  most  worthy  of  publication  inasmuch  as  they  gave 
the  view  of  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  "whose  political 
prescience  is  hailed  fr'om  one  end  of  the  State  to 
the  other."  Some  of  these  were  printed,  and  some 
were  not,  but  Hicks  always  had  a  supply,  and  he 
kept  his  stenographer  busy  writing  more. 


236  THE    FAKERS 

The  most  important  political  event  in  the  history 
of  the  State,  up  to  that  time,  so  Hicks  thought,  was 
his  contemplated  trip  to  make  campaign  speeches 
for  Dawson.  He  went  to  Yorkville  frequently  and 
sought  every  opportunity  to  impress  that  fact  on 
the  candidate,  the  State  committee,  the  newspapers 
and  the  general  public.  When  he  learned  Dawson 
was  to  have  a  private  car  for  his  campaigning  he 
demanded  a  private  car,  also,  for  himself,  and  made 
such  a  fuss  the  committee  compromised  with  him 
by  promising  him  a  car  for  his  last  week's  work. 
He  spent  hours  in  the  room  of  Haley,  the  chief  of 
the  speakers'  bureau,  haggling  with  him  over  dates/ 
and  trying  to  be  assigned  to  every  big  meeting.  He 
demanded  the  choice  position  at  every  meeting  where 
there  was  to  be  another  speaker,  but  held  out,  so 
long  as  he  could,  for  exclusive  meetings,  when  he 
would  be  the  only  speaker  and  the  sole  star  of  the 
occasion.  He  flatly  rejected  minor  assignments, 
changed  his  route  to  suit  himself,  until,  in  despera 
tion,  Haley  went  to  Dawson  and  said,  "Dawson,  if 
you  don't  call  off  that  damned  nuisance  Hicks,  I'll 
quit  the  job  right  now." 

"Call  him  off?"  asked  Dawson.  "How  can  I 
call  him  off?  He's  so  swelled  on  himself  there  is  no 
talking  to  him,  and  he  has  Rollins  behind  him,  too. 
We  can't  afford  to  vex  him,  not  on  his  account,  but  on 
account  of  Rollins,  although  Rollins  isn't  so  strong 
for  him,  apparently,  as  he  used  to  be,  and  there's 
no  denying  he's  got  a  lot  of  strength  with  the  labor 
ing  people  and  the  farmers  and  can  talk  like  a 
house  afire  when  he  gets  warmed  up.  Give  him  what 
he  wants." 

"Give  him  what  he  wants!"  shouted  Haley. 
"Great  God,  if  I  give  him  what  he  wants  you'll  be 
standing  outside  his  meetings  handing  out  bills  for 
them,  he'll  have  a  special  train,  let  alone  a  special 


THE    FAKERS  237 

car,  will  be  billed  like  Barnum's  circus,  and  news- 
papered  like  a  prima  donna." 

"Oh,  well,"  said  Dawson,  "fix  it  up  as  well  as 
you  can.  Don't  bother  me,  I've  got  troubles  of 
my  own." 

"You  wished  him  on  to  us,"  protested  Haley.  "I 
wouldn't  let  him  make  a  speech  to  a  gang  of  dagoes 
working  on  the  street  if  I  had  my  way  about  it." 

"I  wished  him  on  to  you!"  said  Dawson.  "Nay, 
nay,  Haley,  he  wished  himself  on  to  me.  Run 
along  now,  and  get  him  out  of  town  or  we'll  all  go 
crazy." 

Hicks  fought  Haley  for  days,  claiming  every 
thing  and  getting  much  more  than  any  other  speaker 
except  Dawson.  Finally,  he  started  out  on  his 
tour.  Suspicious  of  Haley  and  his  clerks  he  had 
supplemented  the  announcements  of  the  speakers' 
bureau  by  long  and  eulogistic  notices  about  himself 
and  his  abilities  as  a  campaigner  and  orator,  which 
he  had  his  stenographer  prepare  and  which  he  sent 
to  the  newspapers  in  every  town  on  his  route.  Also, 
he  wrote  personal  letters  to  the  chairman  of  the 
local  committees  apprising  them  of  the  date  of  his 
arrival  in  their  cities  and  villages,  outlined  the  sort 
of  a  reception  he  desired  in  each  case,  demanded 
the  best  room  in  the  best  hotel,  and  urged  them  to 
see  to  it  that  his  appearance  was  properly  billed,  and 
that  the  newspapers  were  kept  full  of  his  coming. 

His  procedure  at  his  first  stop  was  typical  of  his 
procedure  at  all  his  other  stops,  except,  as  he  went 
along,  and  found  himself  well  received,  he  grew 
more  exacting.  He  telegraphed  to  the  local  com 
mittee,  charging  the  telegrams  to  the  account  of 
the  State  committee,  apprising  that  organization  of 
the  exact  train  on  which  he  would  arrive,  and  urg 
ing  them  to  have  a  gathering  or  representative 
Democrats  at  the  station  to  meet  him.  When  he 


23 8  THE    FAKERS 

got  off  he  found  the  local  committee  there,  and 
such  representative  Democrats  as  they  could  muster. 
He  advanced  in  a  dignified  manner,  greeted  the 
chairman  of  the  committee,  and  then  stood  beside 
him  while  the  others  filed  past  him  and  were  pre 
sented,  and  shaken  by  the  hand.  He  was  too  good 
a  mixer  to  carry  his  dignity  pose  to  the  extreme,  for 
after  the  presentation  he  became  genial.  He  shook 
hands  again  all  around,  joked  with  the  Democrats, 
told  them  they  were  sure  to  win  this  time,  clapped 
them  on  the  backs,  and  then  asked  to  be  shown  to 
his  hack  and  driven  to  his  hotel. 

He  held  a  little  reception  in  the  lobby  of  the 
hotel,  announced  he  would  see  the  reporters  at  a 
certain  time,  and  after  he  reached  his  room,  asked 
for  an  hour  by  himself  for  rest.  During  the  hour 
he  telephoned  to  the  newspaper  offices  for  fear  the 
reporters  and  editors  might  not  come  to  see  him, 
and  granted  private  audiences  to  those  journalists 
who  called,  explaining  to  the  committee  he  only 
broke  in  on  his  rest  because  of  the  insistence  of 
the  newspaper  people.  Later  in  the  day  he  asked 
to  be  taken  for  a  ride  around  "your  fair  city"  and 
astonished  the  natives  by  his  correct  understanding 
of  the  importance  of  their  particular  metropolis. 
He  had  been  at  great  pains  to  inform  himself  con 
cerning  each  place  on  his  itinerary  before  he  left 
Rextown.  He  had  the  information  all  tabulated  and 
refreshed  his  memory  at  each  place  by  referring 
to  his  notes.  He  delighted  the  local  personages 
by  his  appreciation  of  the  prosperity  and  advantages 
of  their  "fair"  cities. 

Hicks  carried  with  him  his  stenographer,  and  a 
bright  young  labor  leader  from  Rextown,  named 
Mortimer.  These  men,  when  approaching  a  city 
or  village,  shifted  to  another  car  from  the  one  Hicks 
was  in,  and  went  to  another  hotel.  He  had  pre- 


THE    FAKERS  239 

pared  two  speeches,  and  had  left  places  for  reference 
to  local  questions  and  candidates,  which  he  learned 
about  from  the  local  committees.  These  two 
speeches  were  interchangeable,  and  both  the  result 
of  long  study  by  Hicks.  They  overflowed  with 
dear-people  stuff,  and  were  unsparing  in  their  de 
nunciation  of  the  corruption  of  the  Republican 
party.  Also,  they  touched  lightly  on  national  topics, 
but  they  were  loaded  with  references  -to  the  State 
government  in  the  hands  of  the  Republicans. 

The  stenographer  and  Mortimer  went  to  the 
meetings.  Each  had  a  part  to  play.  When  Hicks 
reached  a  certain  place  in  his  denunciation  of  the 
Republican  party,  he  raised  his  right  hand,  and 
Mortimer  jumped  up  and  shouted:  "Will  the  gen 
tleman  answer  a  question?" 

"Certainly,  my  friend,"  Hicks  would  reply,  "I 
want  nothing  more  than  a  full  and  free  discussion 
of  the  issues  of  the  day.  I  welcome  all  questions. 
What  do  you  desire  to  know?" 

Mortimer  would  ask  his  question,  which  generally 
ran  like  this:  "Did  not  the  Democrats  in  the  State 
Legislature  vote  to  endorse  this  asylum  system  which 
you  have  just  attacked?" 

"I'll  tell  you  about  that,"  Hicks  would  shout,  and 
he  would  go  into  a  detailed  explanation,  showing 
how  the  Democrats  were  exactly  right  in  their  action 
and  Mortimer  would  look  much  chagrined  while 
the  Democrats  cheered. 

He  had  four  property  questions  of  this  kind,  two 
by  Mortimer  and  two  by  the  stenographer.  He 
was  skillful  enough  to  answer  by  generalities  any 
real  question  asked  him  by  a  doubting  Republican, 
and  wit  enough,  when  he  couldn't  answer  at  all,  to 
turn  the  laugh  on  the  questioner  by  a  story  or  two 
he  had  learned,  applicable  to  interrupters  at  po 
litical  meetings. 


240  THE    FAKERS 

Hicks  was  a  good  stump-speaker,  and  he  had  big 
meetings.  He  carefully  saw  to  it  that  the  news 
paper  mention  was  sent  back  to  headquarters,  a-nd 
each  night  he  wired  in  to  both  Haley  and  Dawson 
glowing  accounts  of  his  success.  When  his  private 
car  for  the  last  week  of  his  tour  was  sent  to  him 
at  Newton,  he  refused  to  accept  it,  and  wired  Haley 
to  use  the  money  it  would  cost  to  aid  in  the  cam 
paign.  He  announced  this  determination  in  a  high- 
flown  interview  in  which  he  said  a  friend  of  the 
people  had  no  right  to  be  riding  in  a  private  car, 
when  the  money  might  be  used,  legitimately — he 
came  out  hard  on  that  word — to  help  bring  about 
popular  and  honest  and  efficient  government,  which 
would  come  with  Democratic  success.  Although  he 
had  made  elaborate  stipulations  for  drawing-rooms 
and  staterooms  in  Pullmans  and  parlor-cars  with 
Haley  he  always  changed  to  a  day  coach  when  he 
was  coming  into  a  town,  and  rode  in  in  that  humble 
manner,  taking  great  care  the  local  committee  should 
see  him  alighting  from  the  common  coach. 

Haley  tore  his  hair  when  he  received  the  mes 
sage  about  the  private  car  from  Hicks. 

"What  do  you  know  about  that  grand-stander?" 
he  asked  Dawson,  who  was  in  Yorkville  between 
speeches.  "He  fought  with  me  for  a  week  for  that 
car,  claiming  he  was  entitled  to  one  if  you  had  one." 

Dawson  made  no  reply.  He  was  thinking  of 
contingencies  that  might  arise  in  the  future. 

The  last  rally  of  the  campaign  at  Rextown  was  on 
the  Saturday  night  before  election.  Hicks  was 
there,  and  was  the  principal  speaker,  as  Dawson  had 
already  spoken  there,  and  was  needed  in  Yorkville. 
Hicks,  fresh  from  his  triumphs  on  the  stump,  with  his 
speech  elaborated  to  a  most  resonant  and  fervid 
effort,  discouraged  all  preliminaries  for  the  meeting. 
He  would  not  have  a  chairman  of  the  meeting,  nor 


THE    FAKERS  241 

another  speaker,  nor  a  committee  on  the  stage.  He 
spoke  in  the  rink,  and  after  the  place  was  jammed, 
made  a  dramatic  entrance  on  the  vacant  stage,  hav 
ing  arranged  for  a  spot  of  light  to  follow  him  as 
he  came  in  from  the  side,  posed  for  a  moment,  held 
up  his  hands  and  began.  He  was  at  the  top  of  his 
speed.  He  spoke  for  two  hours,  using  the  greater 
parts  of  both  speeches  he  had  used  on  the  road. 
He  was  eloquent,  flowery,  passionate,  and  was 
loudly  cheered. 

He  piled  one  peroration  on  another  at  the  end 
and  then  stopped.  The  crowd  began  to  cheer.  He 
held  up  his  hand,  stood  there  with  his  arms  out 
stretched  and  in  a  voice  shaken  with  emotion — but 
not  so  shaken  it  could  not  be  distinctly  heard — and 
said: 

"Friends,  friends  of  my  years  in  Rextown,  friends 
of  the  city  where  I  have  lived  since  I  came  to  man's 
estate,  where  I  have  labored,  where  I  have  exerted 
the  best  that  is  in  me,  I  beg  of  you  to  consider 
what  I  have  to  say.  This  is  not  my  fight;  this  is 
not  the  fight  of  Peter  Dawson;  this  is  not  the  fight 
of  the  great  and  glorious  Democratic  party — it  is 
a  far  higher,  purer,  holier,  more  important  fight 
than  one  or  all  of  these — it  is  the  fight  of  the  people, 
the  fight  of  the  people  crying  out  to  you  for  relief 
from  oppression,  from  corruption,  from  the  slavery 
of  plutocracy,  from  the  iron  heel  of  the  Republican 
party  that  presses  them  to  the  dust — it  is  the  fight 
that  voices  the  desire  of  the  people  to  be  free — the 
cry  I  make  to  you  is  the  cry  of  the  people — the 
plain  people — the  helpless,  hopeless,  enslaved  people 
—bound  to  the  chariot  wheels  of  greed  and  arro 
gance  and  power  and  plutocracy — the  voice  of  the 
people — and,  oh,  my  friends,  the  voice  of  the  people 
is  the  voice  of  God!" 

He   stood   for  a   moment,  then   he  turned   and 


242  THE    FAKERS 

walked  away,  his  shoulders  heaving  convulsively. 
The  next  day  the  Chronicle  said  this  was  the  great 
est  political  speech  ever  made  in  Rextown.  Hicks 
went  direct  to  the  Chronicle  office  after  the  meeting, 
revised  the  story  written  about  the  meeting,  and 
added  a  few  touches  of  his  own,  of  which  the  prin 
cipal  one  was  the  remark  about  the  greatness  of 
the  speech. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII 

THE   landslide    arrived   on   schedule   time. 
Dawson  was  elected,  as  were  the  entire 
ticket  and  Democratic  legislature.    Hicks 
was  one  of  the  first  to  telegraph  his  con 
gratulations  to  Dawson,  recounting  in  the 
message  his  own  masterly  activities  in  furtherance  of 
that  glorious  result,   and  hastened  to  Yorkville  to 
congratulate  the  forthcoming  Governor  personally. 
"My  dear  Dawson,"  he  said,  "never  in  my  whole 
life  have  I  felt  a  profounder  or  a  deeper  joy  than 
at  this  moment  when  I  am  shaking  the  hand  of  the 
man  who  will  be  the  first  Democratic  governor  our 
state  has  had  in  twenty  years,  the  hand  of  the  man 
whose  election  ensures  the  people  their  rights  and 
liberties." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Dawson,  releasing  his  hand 
from  Hicks's  grasp.  "Thank  you,  Mr.  Hicks.  I 
am  sincerely  grateful  for  your  efforts  and  your  con 
gratulations.  I  shall  not  forget." 

"I  am  sure  you  will  not,"  continued  Hicks. 
'How  is  Filkins?"  asked  Dawson  abruptly. 
"Why,"  answered  Hicks,  "I  do  not  know.    I  have 
kept  no  account  of  his  illness.     Better,  I  trust." 
Dawson  laughed  and  turned  away. 
The  result  had  been  so  interesting  that  several  of 
the    big    eastern    newspapers    sent    their    political 
writers  out  to  Yorkville  to  see  Dawson,  and  to  de 
scribe  and  analyze  the  situation.     Hicks  met  one  of 
these  men,  Gropher,   a  Washington  correspondent 

243 


244  THE    FAKERS 

he  had  known  when  he  was  with  Senator  Paxton, 
and  discussed  state  politics  with  him.  Hicks  knew 
a  great  deal  and  told  what  he  knew,  and  guessed 
at  the  rest,  and  the  correspondent  was  grateful  to 
him  for  making  his  task  easier.  Therefore,  when 
writing  of  possible  candidates  for  the  great  offices 
in  the  state,  Gropher  said  in  his  dispatch  "A  promis 
ing  young  Democrat  is  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  of 
Rextown.  Mr.  Hicks  has  been  his  party's  candidate 
for  Congress  in  the  Rextown  district  three  times, 
and  has  been  active  in  local  politics.  He  was  a 
prominent  figure  at  the  state  convention,  was  one  of 
the  principal  Dawson  campaigners,  is  a  successful 
lawyer,  and  has  the  backing  of  Perkins  G.  Rollins, 
the  old  Democratic  war  horse  of  Rextown.  When 
Governor  Dawson  was  nominated  it  was  with  Cor 
liss  County  votes,  and  Dawson  is  said  to  feel  very 
kindly  toward  his  brilliant  young  supporter.  His 
name  will  be  considered  for  some  important  posi 
tions." 

Of  course,  Gropher  knew  a  lot  of  this  was  merely 
complimentary,  but  Hicks  had  been  of  service  to 
him,  had  helped  him  by  introducing  him  to  men  he 
wanted  to  meet,  and  he  had  found  that  what  Hicks 
had  told  him  about  conditions  was  mainly  correct. 
So  he  reciprocated  by  saying  some  nice  things  about 
Hicks,  moved  on  and  forgot  all  about  it. 

Gropher's  dispatch  was  printed  in  the  New  York 
paper  for  which  he  wrote,  and  reprinted,  on  the 
following  morning,  in  the  Washington  papers,  as 
being  of  general  political  interest.  Mrs.  Lester, 
who  had  recently  returned  from  Europe,  was  at 
Mrs.  Lake's  for  the  winter,  and  Mrs.  Lake  took  up 
the  paper  to  her. 

"Do  you  remember  that  Mr.  Hicks  you  used  to 
see  here?"  Mrs.  Lake  asked. 

"Why,  yes,"  Mrs.  Lester  replied,  "in  a  way.   Oc- 


THE    FAKERS  245 

caslonally  he  sends  me  clippings  from  the  newspa 
pers  about  his  achievements.  What's  happened  to 
him.  Is  he  married  or  something?" 

"Oh,  no,"  Mrs.  Lake  replied,  "but  there  is  a  piece 
about  him  in  the  papers  this  morning  that  is  inter 
esting.  It  seems  he  has  progressed  wonderfully  out 
there." 

"Is  it  possible?  Well,  he  always  said  he  would." 
She  appeared  quite  indifferent. 

"I  thought  you  might  like  to  read  what  it  says 
about  him." 

'Thank  you;  I'll  look  at  it  later,  if  I  may,"  and 
she  began  to  talk  of  other  things. 

After  Mrs.  Lake  had  gone  downstairs  Mrs.  Les 
ter  read  the  political  dispatch  Gropher  sent  from 
Yorkville,  read  it  carefully,  and  reread  the  para 
graph  about  Hicks.  She  had  reached  that  point  in 
her  career  where  she  knew  if  she  ever  was  to  at 
tain  anything  of  consequence  through  a  marriage  she 
must  be  about  it.  Although  she  was  thirty-six,  her 
official  and  communicated  age  was  twenty-nine.  Her 
whole  time  was  taken  up  with  two  lines  of  endeavor. 
The  first  was  to  make  herself  appear  as  only  twenty- 
nine,  and  the  second  was  to  hold  that  pose  naturally 
after  she  had  prepared  herself  and  had  come  on 
view.  She  couldn't  afford  a  maid  and  she  was  her 
own  maid,  and  a  skilful  one,  and  was  constantly 
employed,  when  not  on  exhibition  or  asleep,  with 
her  personal  embellishment. 

She  was  slender,  but  she  had  her  doubts.  Her 
mother  had  been  slender,  and  had  grown  stout.  Alys 
noticed  evidence  of  plumpness  in  various  disconcert 
ing  places,  and  her  whole  life  was  organized  on 
the  basis  of  fighting  that  fat  and  maintaining  her 
looks.  Her  room  was  stocked  with  jars  of  facial 
creams.  She  had  numerous  mechanical  appliances 
for  aiding  her  in  her  battle.  Every  night  before  she 


246  THE    FAKERS 

went  to  bed  she  put  on  her  wrinkle  plasters,  bits 
of  flexible  cardboard  gummed  on  one  side,  and  cut 
in  diamonds,  half  moons  and  squares.  After  she 
had  applied  the  cream  to  her  face,  she  rubbed  it  off 
above  the  space  where  her  eyebrows  met,  and  pulled 
out  the  little  frown  wrinkle  that,  despite  her  best 
endeavors,  had  lodged  there.  Then  she  applied  a 
plaster  to  hold  the  skin  taut  during  the  night.  She 
used  half  circles  at  the  corner  of  her  eyes  in  the 
same  manner,  and  she  pulled  the  corners  of  her 
mouth  and  smoothed  out  the  lines  that  ran  down 
from  the  sides  of  her  nose  and  plastered  them  down, 
too.  Then  she  tied  on  a  band  that  was  to  push 
back  her  suspicion  of  a  double  chin,  put  her  curling 
pins  in  her  hair,  fussed  about  herself  for  half  an 
hour  more  and  adjusted  herself  in  bed  in  order  that 
she  might  sleep  comfortably  with  all  these  appliances 
on  her  face  and  body. 

In  the  morning,  after  her  bath,  she  spent  two 
hours  massaging  her  face,  applying  creams  of  dif 
ferent  sorts,  polishing  her  nails,  and  generally  beau 
tifying  herself.  She  knew  how  to  grapple  with  and 
rub  and  agitate  her  double  chin,  in  order  to  break 
the  fat  cells,  knew  how  to  work  on  the  lines  at  the 
side  of  the  mouth,  how  to  use  the  circular  motion 
around  her  eyes  and  how  to  keep  her  forehead 
clear.  She  combed,  brushed,  bandolined,  and  bril- 
liantined  her  hair,  and  massaged  her  scalp  assidu 
ously.  Once  a  week,  at  night,  she  steamed  her  face. 
She  would  rub  her  face  full  of  cream,  and  then 
wring  out  the  middle  of  a  bath  towel  in  very  hot 
water  and  place  it  on  her  face,  folding  the  dry 
ends  over  to  hold  the  heat  in.  This  process  she  re 
peated  several  times.  She  paid  scrupulous  atten 
tion  to  her  eyelashes  and  eyebrows  and  knew  the 
exact  location  for  each  individual  lash  and  brow 
hair.  She  was  expert  with  the  pencil  used  in  dark- 


THE    FAKERS  247 

ening  her  lashes,  and  her  supply  of  rouge  and  paints 
and  pencils  ranged  through  all  the  shades  that  might 
be  demanded  by  any  complexion  contingency. 

She  put  on  a  tight-fitting  gown  and  rolled  over 
and  over  on  the  floor  to  reduce  her  hips,  and  did  var 
ious  other  exercises  to  retain  her  suppleness.  She 
was  extremely  careful  as  to  her  diet,  avoided  flesh- 
forming  foods,  drank  little  wine  and  did  not  take 
sweets.  Her  whole  existence  was  organized  on  her 
desire  to  look  her  claimed  twenty-nine  and  she  suc 
ceeded  admirably.  She  had  been  to  the  great  beauty 
parlors  in  New  York  and  in  Paris,  and  she  had  been 
frequently  enough  to  learn  their  methods.  She  did 
not  have  sufficient  money  to  patronize  them  continu 
ously,  and  she  was  her  own  beauty  persuader.  She 
had  a  permanent  wave  put  in  her  hair,  paying  twen 
ty-five  dollars  for  the  operation,  and  once  a  year 
she  went  to  a  place  in  New  York  and  had  her  face 
peeled,  which  freshened  the  complexion,  and  which 
was  done  by  the  application  of  some  stringent  liquid 
which  dried  on  the  outer  cuticle.  This  kept  her  in 
retirement  about  three  weeks  each  spring,  and  event 
ually  flaked  it  off  in  small  sections.  She  was  fortu 
nate  in  having  a  figure  that  needed  no  artificial  am 
plification,  and  she  practiced  graceful  walking  and 
standing  and  sitting  when  she  was  not  otherwise 
employed. 

Alys  was  a  work  of  art  every  time  she  appeared 
in  public.  She  had  many  gowns  and  manipulated 
them  so  skillfully  with  changes  of  waists  and  coats 
and  ornaments,  that  she  appeared  to  have  an  end 
less  number.  The  ladies  at  Mrs.  Lake's  secretly 
commented  on  this  feature  of  Mrs.  Lester's  ward 
robe,  but  the  men  thought  she  had  more  clothes  than 
any- woman  in  Washington  and  were  of  the  opinion 
she  could  wear  them  better  than  most.  The  ladies 
wondered  if  she  used  rouge.  Some  thought  she  did, 


248  THE    FAKERS 

and  some  thought  she  did  not,  but  none  was  certain, 
for  she  was  so  deft  with  the  rouge  even  these  wise 
scrutinizers  were  puzzled. 

She  had  many  pieces  of  ornamental  jewelry,  odd 
in  design  and  seemingly  antique.  She  told  the  his 
tory  of  each  piece.  They  were  all  heirlooms,  she 
said,  some  coming  from  the  de  Mountfort  branch 
of  her  ancestors,  an  old  and  noble  French  family, 
and  some  from  the  Lesters,  an  English  house  of 
high  degree.  She  had  bought  these  at  antique  shops, 
from  time  to  time,  and  had  carefully  connected  a 
history  with  each  piece.  She  never  went  into  details 
about  her  money,  but  often  gave  vague  intimations 
of  the  size  of  her  investments,  and  the  sources  and 
magnitude  of  her  income.  Mrs.  Lake  and  others 
tried  to  pin  her  down,  on  various  occasions,  by  lead 
ing  the  conversation  around  to  financial  matters, 
but  she  eluded  them  easily,  and  while  she  could  talk 
of  Steel  and  Rubber  and  Union  Pacific  and  other 
shares  with  some  expertness,  she  never  told  which 
she  owned,  or  how  many.  She  had  but  few  costly 
jewels,  a  diamond  ring  or  two,  and  a  fair  string 
of  pearls.  She  was  exceedingly  careful  to  explain, 
at  great  length,  that  her  other  jewels  possessed  lit 
tle  intrinsic  value.  They  were  merely  striking  orna 
ments,  heirlooms  handed  down  from  the  grand 
dames  of  the  de  Mountforts  and  Lesters,  and  she 
preferred  their  historical  and  family  associations  to 
newer  and  more  expensive  pieces. 

She  was  solicitous  of  the  older  ladies,  talked  to 
them,  charmed  them  with  little  attentions,  amused 
and  interested  them  with  personal  stories  of  the 
great  ones  of  the  er.rth  of  whom  they  had  been 
reading  all  their  lives,  and  whom  she  said  she  knew 
intimately,  coddled  and  cuddled  them,  and  they  all 
thought  her  a  most  entrancing  creature.  Their  early 
doubts  of  her  were  dispelled  by  this  process,  and 


THE    FAKERS  249 

they  became  her  loyal  admirers  and  staunch  friends. 
Mrs.  Lake  looked  on  her  as  her  greatest  asset.  Her 
elaborate  costumes  and  her  undeniable  grace  in 
wearing  them,  her  attractiveness,  and  general  tone 
of  high  breeding  and  culture,  gave  class  to  the  Lake 
establishment.  The  younger  women  boarders, 
mostly  business  women  in  good  positions,  imitated 
her,  and  many  an  hour  ordinarily  devoted  to  sleep 
wras  spent  by  these  young  women  in  desperate  en 
deavors  with  cream,  lotions,  new  corsets,  and  arti 
ficial  hair  to  attain  complexions  like  hers,  figures 
that  should  be  svelte,  and  coiffures  as  stylish. 

Mrs.  Lester  returned  to  the  paper  after  she  had 
finished  her  daily  task  of  rejuvenation. 

"His  name  will  be  considered  for  some  important 
positions,"  she  read  again. 

"I  wonder  just  what  that  means,"  she  questioned 
herself.  "It  would  be  quite  interesting  to  know." 


H 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

ICKS  had  it  in  mind  to  make  a  trip  to 
New  York  and  Washington.  He 
thought  he  would  confer  himself  on 
the  metropolis  for  a  brief  period  of 
rest  and  relaxation,  and,  incidentally, 
make  himself  known  to  some  of  the  leading  men 
there.  Also,  he  desired  to  have  some  talks  with 
Senator  Paxton. 

He  wrote  to  the  Senator,  recounting  his  recent 
achievements  in  politics,  asking  him  if  he  would  be 
in  Washington  late  in  November,  because,  as  Hicks 
put  it,  "I  have  a  matter  of  great  moment  to  dis 
cuss  with  you.  It  may  surprise  you  when  I  say  to 
you  that  the  probabilities  are  I  shall  soon  have  a 
seat  in  the  Senate." 

Hicks  received  a  reply  from  Senator  Paxton  the 
day  before  he  left.  The  Senator  wrote : 

"Mv  DEAR  HICKS  : 

"I  have  your  letter.  You  do  surprise  me,  but  not  so  much 
as,  perhaps,  you  think.  Any  American  citizen  who  has  been 
active  in  politics  may  hope  to  be  a  United  States  Senator, 
and  some  who  have  been  inactive.  There  seem  to  be  no 
limitations  on  the  job,  as  it  is  parceled  out  at  present,  either 
intellectually  or  otherwise.  The  wisdom  of  this  observation 
becomes  apparent  after  a  critical  examination  of  a  large  num 
ber  of  men  who  are  senators  at  present. 

"There  are  various  methods  of  becoming  a  United  States 
Senator,  and,  of  course,  I  am  not  apprised  just  which  method 
you  have  in  mind.  However,  I  beg  to  call  your  attention  to 

250 


THE    FAKERS  251 

the  fact  that  fashions  in  obtaining  senatorships  are  changing 
rapidly,  and  it  is  no  longer  the  mode  to  buy,  or  otherwise 
barter,  for  a  seat,  although  that  was  the  accepted  practice 
for  many  years.  Indeed,  there  may  be  said  to  be  a  distinct 
popular  disapproval  of  the  style  and  fit  of  a  toga  thus  ac 
quired,  and  one  may  as  well  be  out  of  the  world  as  out  of  the 
mode  of  the  moment  when  one  is  in  politics. 

"There  are  two  ways  to  be  a  Senator.  One  is  to  have 
connections,  and  the  other  is  to  be  disconnected.  This  latter 
manner  is  gaining  in  senatorial  favor  in  ratio  to  the 
progress  of  the  movement  for  the  direct  election  of  all  sena 
tors  by  the  people.  If  you  desire  connections,  it  is  wise  to 
see  to  it  that  they  are  properly  insulated. 

"As  I  have  frequently  told  you,  the  people  are  mighty 
and  must  prevail.  I  trust  you  have  so  ordered  your  affairs 
that  when  the  people  are  prevailing  you  will  prevail  with 
them,  and  I  take  it  you  have,  if  what  you  say  about  coming 
here  is  correct.  If  you  do  come,  and  I  hope  you  will,  I 
trust  you  will  ever  consider  the  rights  of  the  people  as  para 
mount  except  when  a  vote  is  being  taken.  Then,  of  course, 
a  Senator  must  not  be  unmindful  of  what  he,  personally,  has 
at  stake.  Much  depends  on  the  expert  maintenance  of  this 
delicate  balance,  but  I  am  quite  sure  you  will  not  find  it 
difficult,  as  you  possess  great  and  laudable  qualities  as  an 
equilibrist. 

"We  shall  welcome  you,  of  course,  not  only  as  a  repre 
sentative  of  the  people,  but  for  your  own  sterling  qualities,  so 
ably  demonstrated,  and  which,  as  an  humble  instrument  in 
your  advancement,  I  shall  hope  to  direct  into  reasonably 
virtuous,  and,  mayhap,  valuable  channels. 

"Yours,  with  congratulations  and  expectations, 

"WILLIAM  H.  PAXTON." 

Hicks  already  considered  himself  a  Senator,  and 
he  felt  strongly  inclined  to  add  a  note  to  that  effect 
after  his  name  when  he  registered  at  the  Hotel 
Superbious  in  New  York. 

"What  sort  of  a  room  do  you  desire,  Mr. 
Hicks?"  asked  the  clerk,  after  a  glance  at  his  bold 
signature. 


252  THE    FAKERS 

"A  good  room,"  Hicks  answered  pompously. 

"All  of  our  rooms  are  good  rooms,"  the  bored 
clerk  replied.  "I  can  give  you  an  inside  room  at 
four  dollars  a  day,  a  room  with  a  bath  for  five,  six 
or  seven,  and  a  small  outside  suite  for  twelve  dollars 
a  day." 

Hicks  had  thought  of  engaging  a  parlor,  bed 
room  and  bath,  but  he  gulped  over  that  twelve 
dollars  a  day. 

"Oh,  a  five-dollar  room  will  do,  I  guess,"  he 
hurriedly  assured  the  clerk,  and  after  the  usual  pre 
liminaries  a  ferret-faced  bellboy  said:  "This  way 
— this  way,  Mr.  Hicks,"  and  guided  him  to  an  ele 
vator  which  took  him  to  the  sixteenth  floor. 

Hicks  looked  out  of  the  window  over  the  myriac 
roofs  of  New  York.  After  all,  this  was  the  city. 
He  was,  in  a  way,  wasting  his  talents  in  Rextown. 
He  determined  to  hold  New  York  in  mind  as  a 
place  for  possible  exploitation  after  he  reached  the 
Senate.  He  knew  of  it  as  the  abode  of  the  criminal 
rich  and  the  predacious  plutocrats,  dominated  by 
Wall  Street  and  the  greedy  god  of  Mammon,  and 
while  he  loathed  the  place,  politically,  and  used  it 
in  his  speeches  as  the  type  of  all  that  should  not  be, 
he  had  an  idea  substantial  things  might  be  obtained 
there,  by  a  Senator,  and  he  decided  to  get  on  terms 
of  better  acquaintance  with  the  city,  its  men  and  its 
methods. 

He  reached  the  hotel  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  Half  an  hour  later  he  went  down  into 
the  lobby,  and  walked  through  all  the  vast  array  of 
glittering  rooms  and  corridors,  looking  at  the  idle 
men  and  the  idler  women,  and  was  much  interested 
in  everything  he  saw.  He  had  been  in  New  York 
a  few  times  before,  but  never  as  a  guest  at  the 
Hotel  Superbious,  and  never  as  a  potential  Senator. 
He  wore  his  high  hat,  his  frock-coat,  his  flowing 


THE    FAKERS  253 

tie,  and  his  hair  was  even  longer  than  usual,  and 
brushed  to  glossy  perfection. 

"From  the  South,"  commented  one  of  the  row 
of  red-faced  men  sitting  in  the  big  leather  chairs. 

"Nope;  from  the  West,"  disputed  another. 
"Never  from  the  South,  my  boy,  with  a  plug  hat 
and  a  flowing  tie.  That's  a  prairie  get-up." 

Hicks  strutted  up  and  down  the  corridors  for 
half  an  hour.  No  one  had  spoken,  not  many  had 
looked  at  him,  except  those  keen-eyed  adventurers 
who  were  about  the  hotel,  and  they  had  all  ob 
served  him  narrowly  as  a  possible  subject  for  their 
own  peculiar  operations. 

He  stopped  at  the  desk.  "Mr.  Clerk,"  he  said, 
"where  are  the  reporters?" 

"The  reporters?"  asked  the  clerk,  "what  re 
porters?" 

"Why,  the  reporters  for  the  press,  the  newspaper 
reporters." 

"Do  you  want  to  see  a  reporter?" 

"Not  especially,"  Hicks  replied,  "but  I  fancy 
the  reporters  will  want  to  see  me." 

"Maybe  so;  maybe  so,"  smiled  the  clerk,  taking 
quick  stock  of  Hicks.  "If  any  of  them  come  in 
I'll  tell  them  you  are  here." 

"Thank  you,"  and  Hicks  walked  away. 

He  wondered  why  he  had  not  been  asked  for 
an  interview.  Out  in  his  country  each  paper  had 
a  hotel  reporter  who  called  on  every  arrival  who 
seemed  to  have  the  slightest  claim  for  newspaper 
mention.  He  felt  his  name  and  fame  must  have 
penetrated  New  York,  and  he  did  not  understand 
this  lack  of  journalistic  attention  to  him. 

Not  long  after  this  Madders,  of  the  Constella 
tion,  happened  by  the  desk. 

"Hello,  Charley,"  he  saluted  the  clerk,  "anything 
stirring?" 


254 


THE    FAKERS 


"Not  a  leaf  fluttering,"  the  clerk  replied.  "Dull 
as  a  Sunday  on  the  curb  market." 

Madders  turned  away. 

"Hold  on  a  minute,"  the  clerk  called  after  him. 
"There's  a  man  here,  named  Hicks,  who  was  ask 
ing  for  a  reporter." 
,    "Where  is  he?" 

"Oh,  he's  parading  around  here  somewhere. 
You  can't  miss  him.  He  looks  like  a  cross  be 
tween  a  movie  actor  and  an  evangelist.  You'll 
spot  him  the  minute  you  see  him." 

"What  sort  of  scenery  is  he  carrying?"  asked 
Madders,  thinking  of  a  possible  paragraph. 

"Frock-coat,  plug  hat,  flappy  tie,  long  hair,  and 
a  general  air  of  you-don't-have-to-tell-me-I'm-good- 
I-know  it." 

"What's  his  name?" 

"Hicks,"  said  the  clerk,  referring  to  the  register. 
"T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  of  Rextown." 

"What's  his  line?" 

"Oh,  anything  from  reading  plans  to  palming 
cards.  Dig  him  up  and  see  if  there  isn't  a  josh  in 
him." 

Madders  walked  down  the  corridor  past  the 
men's  restaurant.  He  met  Hicks. 

"Mr.  Hicks?"  he  said,  tentatively. 

"Yes,"  Tommie  answered,  "I  am  Mr.  Hicks — T. 
Marmaduke  Hicks;  and  whom  have  I  the  honor 
of  addressing?" 

"I'm  Madders,  of  the  Constellation.  Are  you 
looking  for  a  reporter?" 

Hicks  rather  resented  this.  "No,  sir,"  he  said, 
"T  am  not  looking  for  a  reporter." 

"Excuse  me;  I  understood  you  were,"  and  Mad 
ders  started  on. 

"Ahem-m,"  coughed  Hicks.     "The  fact  is,"  he 


THE    FAKERS  255 

said,  laying  a  detaining  hand  on  Madders's  arm, 
"that  while  I  am  not  looking  for  a  reporter  I  am 
always  glad  to  see  one,  having  a  high  regard  for 
gentlemen  of  the  press." 

"You  don't  say,"  commented  Madders.  "Well, 
in  that  case,  suppose  we  put  it  this  way:  I  am  a 
gentleman  of  the  press  and  you  have  a  high  regard 
for  me.  Also,  I  have  a  high  regard  for  you. 
Thus,  having  established  a  working  basis,  may  I 
inquire  what  is  the  purpose  of  your  visit  in  New 
York  and  what  is  the  news  back  in  Rextown?" 

Madders  smiled  genially  at  Hicks  and  offered 
him  a  cigarette.  Hicks  wanted  to  smoke,  but  he 
held  his  no-smoking-in-public  pose. 

"Thank  you,"  said  Hicks,  raising  a  protesting 
hand,  "I  never  use  the  weed." 

"Indeed,"  commented  Madders,  lighting  the 
cigarette  he  held  in  his  hand. 

"No,"  continued  Hicks,  "but,"  he  added  hastily, 
"of  course  I  have  no  prejudices  in  the  matter,  none 
at  all." 

"So  glad,"  murmured  Madders. 

"As  for  my  business  in  New  York,"  Hicks  con 
tinued,  "I  have  none.  I  am  simply  here  for  recrea 
tion,  for  a  period  of  rest  after  my  arduous  labors 
in  our  last  campaign  where  we  triumphed  magnifi 
cently,  as  you  doubtless  are  aware." 

Madders  wasn't  aware  of  anything  of  the  kind, 
but  he  nodded  gravely. 

"Yes,"  continued  Hicks,  "we  fought  the  good 
fight,  and  vanquished  the  forces  of  plutocracy.  The 
people  came  into  their  own,  and  I  was  one  of  the 
humble  instruments  in  bringing  about  that  glorious 
victory." 

"What  did  you  run  for?"  asked  Madders. 

"Oh,  I  was  not  a  candidate.  I  was  the  prin 
cipal  speaker  in  the  campaign,  and  had  some  small 


256  THE    FAKERS 

part  in  the  nomination  of  the  successful  candidates. 
My  reward  is  to  come  later." 

"And  what  will  that  be?" 

Hicks  waved  his  hand  grandly.  "As  for  that," 
he  replied,  "I  am  not  in  a  position  to  be  definite. 
However,  you  may  say  in  your  paper  that  I  ad 
mire  your  great  city,  and  always  have;  I  consider 
it  a  magnificent  exemplification  of  the  spirit  of  ac 
complishment  that  makes  the  American  people  the 
greatest  people  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  To  be 
sure,  there  are  certain  phases  of  your  so-called 
high  finance  that  give  me  pause,  and  call  for 
remedial  action  in  order  that  the  vast,  teeming  popu 
lation  of  this  country  may  not  be  deprived  of  the 
fruits  of  their  industry  and  toil  by  the  machinations 
of  the  unscrupulous  representatives  of  the  criminal 
rich  who  sit  here  and  suck  the  life-blood  from  the 
very  veins  of  the  honest  yeomanry;  but,  all  in  all, 
these  are  but  a  blot  on  the  noble  record  of  its  achieve 
ments,  and  New  Yorkers  have  every  reason  to  be 
proud  of  their  city,  as  I  am,  contemplating  it  from 
a  distance  and  earnestly  seeking  to  bring  its  devious 
citizens  into  the  light  of  a  better  day." 

"Fine!"  thought  Madders,  "a  column,  sure." 

He  listened  attentively  to  Hicks,  prompting  him 
now  and  then  with  a  skillful  question  or  comment, 
and  Hicks  told  the  story  of  his  life  in  great  detail. 

When  Madders  reached  his  office  he  told  the  night 
city  editor  what  he  had. 

"A  guy  up  at  the  Superbious  named  Hicks — T. 
Marmaduke  Hicks — and  looking  the  part,  spilled 
a  lot  of  stuff  about  himself  that  I  can  make  a  funny 
feature  story  out  of,"  said  Madders.  "He's  worth 
a  column  of  any  paper's  space." 

"Two  sticks,"  ordered  the  despot  of  the  city 
desk.  "Loaded  to  the  guards  with  real  news.  Save 
him  for  early  Sunday  copy." 


THE    FAKERS  257 

"But  he's  funny,"  urged  Madders. 

"All  right,  be  as  comical  as  you  like  about  him, 
but  two  sticks  is  the  limit.  You  can  use  him  for 
Sunday." 

"Yes,"  sneered  Madders,  "and  the  rest  of  the 
gang  will  dig  him  up  before  that  time.  I  suppose 
some  leader  of  society  in  truckmen  circles  has 
jumped  off  the  High  Bridge  and  that's  crowding 
out  good  stuff." 

"Two  sticks,"  repeated  the  city  editor,  and  turned 
away. 

Next  morning  Hicks  sent  for  a  copy  of  the  Con 
stellation.  He  eagerly  read  the  big  headlines  on 
the  first  page.  There  was  a  Washington  dispatch 
telling  of  a  White  House  conference  over  foreign 
affairs,  the  story  of  an  Albany  legislative  scandal, 
a  local  political  spread  and  full  details  of  an  elope 
ment  of  a  society  leader  with  her  affinity,  but  no 
Hicks.  Bitterly  disappointed,  he  turned  to  the 
second  page.  That,  too,  was  bare  of  mention  of 
Hicks,  but  on  the  third  page  he  found  a  short 
item: 

"HICKS  IS  HERE. 

"T.  MARMADUKE,  OF  REXTOWN,  GIVES  THE  METROPOLIS 
His  FLATTERING  O.K. 

"T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  of  Rextown,  who  runs 
to  extremes  of  length  in  his  coats,  his  hair,  his 
neckties  and  his  oratory,  arrived  at  the  Hotel  Su- 
perbious  yesterday.  Mr.  Hicks  is  here  for  rest 
and  relaxation. 

"He  expressed  himself  as  well  pleased,  in  the  main, 
with  New  York,  and  had  no  hesitation  in  commend 
ing  both  the  size  and  the  apparent  wealth  of  this 
community.  'A  great  many  people,'  he  said,  impres 
sively,  'live  in  New  York.'  However,  there  is  one 


258  THE    FAKERS 

feature  of  the  numerous  phases  of  life  in  New  York 
that  has  attracted  the  admiring  comment  of  Mr. 
Hicks  which  he  cannot  commend.  He  is  sternly 
opposed  to  Mammon,  and  all  the  Mammon  family, 
who  abide  in  Wall  Street  and  adjacent  thereto, 
and  intends  to  take  steps  in  the  near  future  'to 
eradicate  this  blot  from  the  noble  escutcheon  of  the 
Metropolis,'  as  he  so  appropriately  put  it. 

"The  criminal  rich  are  under  the  ban  of  Mr. 
Hicks,  and  his  mission  in  life  is  to  see  to  it  that 
the  common  people  are  rescued  from  the  toils  of 
the  octopus,  and  come  into  their  own.  Also,  Mr. 
Hicks  intimated  he  is  about  to  come  into  his  own, 
but  he  did  not  say  in  what  way.  Mr.  Hicks  wears 
a  silk  hat  of  a  style  not  seen  in  the  Hotel  Superbious 
in  the  past  ten  years." 

Hicks  threw  the  paper  on  the  floor  and  stamped 
on  it.  "It  simply  shows,"  he  said  to  himself,  "to 
what  an  extent  the  Money  Devil  controls  this  capital 
istic  New  York  press,"  and  that  thought  cheered 
him  up  considerably.  However,  he  discarded  his 
long  coat  and  high  hat,  before  he  went  down  to 
breakfast,  and  considered  the  advisability  of  having 
his  hair  trimmed,  He  looked  at  himself  in  the 
glass  and  decided  that  was  unnecessary.  Hicks 
considered  his  hair  quite  a  personal  asset. 

He  walked  up  Fifth  Avenue  that  morning,  and 
enjoyed  the  crowds  and  the  store  windows,  marveled 
at  the  vast  traffic,  and  took  a  ride  on  a  stage  to 
Grant's  tomb.  He  returned  to  the  Superbious  for 
luncheon,  and  as  he  was  at  table,  trying  to  think 
of  some  one  on  whom  he  might  call,  he  was  aston 
ished  and  delighted  to  hear  a  boy  in  a  smart  uni 
form  shouting  his  name: 

"Mr.  Hicks,  please;  room  sixteen-twenty-two. 
Mr.  Hicks,  please;  room  sixteen-twenty-two." 


THE    FAKERS  259 

"Here,  boy,"  he  cried.     "I  am  Mr.  Hicks." 

The  boy  came  over  to  him.  "Mr.  T.  Marma- 
duke  Hicks  of  room  sixteen-twenty-two  ?"  he  asked. 

"Yes,  yes,"  Hicks  replied,  eagerly.  "What  is 
it?"^ 

"Telephone,  sir,"  and  he  handed  Hicks  a  slip 
which  requested  him  to  call  up  "Plaza  27389." 

"All  right,"  said  Hicks,  as  if  he  were  accustomed 
to  telephone  calls  in  the  Hotel  Superbious,  "I'll  at 
tend  to  it  presently." 

He  went  to  his  room,  took  the  telephone  receiver 
off  its  hook  and  listened. 

"Order,  please,"  came  a  voice. 

"I  have  no  order,"  he  answered.  "I  want  to 
call  up  a  number." 

"Number,  please." 

"Plaza,  27389." 

He  listened.  There  were  a  few  clicks  and  he 
heard  a  girl  say:  "Plaza,  to-seven-th-r-r-r-ee-eight- 
n-eyene." 

"Plaza,  two-seven-th-r-r-r-eeeight-n-eye-ne,"  an 
other  girl  repeated,  and  after  a  pause  a  very  bored 
voice  said:  "Hotel  Dwighton." 

"Does  anybody  there  want  to  talk  with  Mr. 
Hicks?" 

"What's  the  name?" 

"Hicks— T.  Marmaduke  Hicks." 

Hicks  heard  the  bored  voice  ask:  "Anybody 
here  callin'  for  a  party  named  T.  Marmaduke 
Hicks?  I  ain't  got  no  such  call." 

"Room  six-oh-one,"  said  another  voice. 

"Wait  a  moment,  please,  and  I'll  connect  you," 
and  Hicks  heard  a  few  sharp  clicks  and  then  a 
soft  and  inquiring  "Yes?"  came  over  the  wire. 

"I  am  Mr.  Hicks,  Mr.  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  of 
Rextown,  and  I  was  asked  to  call  up  this  number." 

"How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Hicks?     I  am  Mrs.  Lester. 


26o  THE    FAKERS 

Do  you  remember  me?  I  used  to  know  you  in 
Washington." 

Mrs.  Lester!  There  flashed  before  the  mind  of 
Hicks  the  picture  of  the  fascinating  widow  he  had 
seen  at  Mrs.  Lake's.  Mrs.  Lester!  And  in  New 
York!  Oh,  lucky  Hicks!  Mrs.  Lester!  Hicks's 
voice  trembled  a  little  as  he  replied. 

"Why,  Mrs.  Lester.  Of  course  I  remember  you. 
How  could  I  forget  you?  And  you  are  in  New 
York.  May  I  call?" 

"Would  you  care  to?" 

"Care  to!"  exclaimed  Hicks.  "Why,  I  ^should 
be  delighted  to  if  I  may.  I  have  often  desired  to 
renew  my  pleasant  acquaintance  with  you." 

"I  read  that  you  are  in  the  city Hicks 

groaned  at  that — "and  I  thought  it  would  be  plea 
sant  to  see  you  again,  but — I ' 

Hicks  noted  the  hesitation.  "Oh,  please,"  he 
urged.  "I  shall  be  so  glad  to  see  you.  I  am  alone 
here,  and — and " 

"Poor  fellow,"  laughed  Mrs.  Lester.  "Alone 
in  New  York!  Well,  in  that  case  I'll  take  pity  on 
you.  Can  you  come  to  the  Dwighton  at  five 
o'clock?^ 

"Certainly,  I  shall  be  most  happy.  The  Dwigh 
ton,  you  say?  At  five  o'clock?  I  shall  be  there. 
Good-by." 

"Good-by,"  and  he  heard  the  click  of  the  'phone 
as  she  hung  up  the  receiver. 

Hicks  executed  a  heavy  pirouette  across  the  floor. 
"What  do  you  think  of  that,"  he  said  exultantly, 
"Mrs.  Lester  here,  of  all  women!  Remembered 
me  well  enough  to  call  me  up,  too,"  and  he  took 
a  complacent  glance  at  himself  in  his  mirror. 
"Will  I  call  on  her?  Will  I?  Well,  I  guess  yes!" 

He  began  preparing  himself  for  his  call  at  three 
o'clock,  and  when  rummaging  in  his  trunk  for  a 


THE    FAKERS  261 

particularly  harmonious  tie  uncovered  the  white 
waistcoat  he  wore  with  his  evening  clothes.  He 
was  about  to  set  it  aside  when  it  came  to  him  sud 
denly  that,  perhaps  Mrs.  Lester  would  prefer  to  go 
to  dinner.  He  had  had  a  rather  lonesome  meal 
the  night  before,  and  realized,  for  the  first  time, 
that  if  he  called  at  five  o'clock  he  could  not  have 
more  than  an  hour,  or  an  hour  and  a  half  at  the 
most,  in  her  company,  while  if  he  took  her  to  dinner 
he  could  be  with  her  several  hours.  Also,  he  knew 
that  if  took  her  to  dinner  he  must  wear  his 
evening  clothes,  and  he  couldn't  put  those  on  for 
a  five  o'clock  call  in  the  hope  that  he  might  develop 
that  call  into  a  dinner  party  for  two. 

"By  George!"  he  said,  "I'll  risk  it.  Maybe  she 
hasn't  an  engagement.  There's  no  harm  in  trying, 
anyhow." 

He  went  to  the  telephone,  called  the  Dwighton 
and  asked  for  Mrs.  Lester. 

"Oh,  Mrs.  Lester,"  he  said,  "this  is  Mr.  Hicks 
again.  I  was  wondering  whether  you  cared  to  dine 
with  me  to-night.  I  hope  you  can,"  he  urged,  think 
ing  she  might  resent  such  an  informal  invitation,  "I 
am  so  anxious  to  see  you,  and  it  occurred  to  me 
that,  if  you  have  no  other  engagement,  we  might 
have  dinner  together  somewhere.  It  will  give  me 
the  greatest  pleasure  in  the  world,  and  I  thought 
possibly  you  might  be  willing — please  do — if 
you- 

"Dine  with  you  to-night?  Why — let  me  see — I 
have  a  sort  of  an  engagement  to  drop  in  on  some 
Fifth  Avenue  friends — nothing  formal — only  a 
family  dinner  before  we  go  to  the  opera — I 
might " 

"Please  do!"  urged  Hicks. 

"And  possibly " 

"Please!" 


262  THE    FAKERS 

"Well,"  she  said,  "I'll  telephone  up  and  tell  them 
I  shan't  be  there.  The  opera  is  rather  stupid,  any 
how.  One  always  sees  the  same  people,  you  know, 
and  I  can  go  any  time.  Yes,  I  can  do  it.  Thank 
you,  Mr.  Hicks.  Shall  we  say  half  after  six  o'clock, 
here,  and  then  we  can  decide  on  a  restaurant?" 

"I  am  delighted!"  burbled  Hicks.  "Delighted! 
I  shall  be  there  at  half-past  six." 

Hicks  rummaged  through  his  trunk,  and  collected 
his  evening-dress  belongings  in  a  heap  on  the  floor. 
The  coat  was  creased  and  rumpled.  He  sent  for 
a  bellboy. 

"Boy,"  he  said,  "I  want  these  clothes  pressed." 

"Very  good,  sir!  I'll  call  the  valet." 

"Valet!  I  don't  want  a  valet.  I  want  my 
clothes  pressed." 

"The  valet  will  attend  to  that,  sir."^ 

Presently,  the  valet  came,  a  tall,  thin,  horse-faced 
person,  with  an  air  of  conscious  superiority  devel 
oped  by  many  years  of  dealing  with  guests  from  the 
interior  who  were  not  accustomed  to  upper  servants. 

"Can  I  have  these  clothes  pressed  immediately?" 
asked  Hicks. 

The  valet  picked  up  the  coat  and  trousers,  ex 
amined  them  superciliously,  as  if  he  thought  it 
would  be  a  distinct  lowering  of  the  tone  of  the 
establishment  to  do  anything  to  what  was  so  ob 
viously  the  production  of  the  country  tailor.  He 
spoke  deferentially,  but  he  had  a  manner  that  made 
Hicks  feel  that  the  only  thing  for  him  to  do,  to 
preserve  his  self-respect,  was  to  fall  on  him  and 
rend  him  limb  from  limb. 

Holding  the  coat  and  trousers  at  half-arm's 
length,  the  valet  said,  deferentially:  "Yes,  sir. 
When  will  you  require  them,  sir?" 

"Soon  as  possible,"  Hicks  ordered,  in  his  most 
pompous  manner. 


THE    FAKERS  263 

"Like  to  have  your  hat  ironed,  sir?" 

"Never  mind  about  the  hat." 

"Yes,  sir,  five  o'clock,  sir;"  and  Hicks  saw  the 
valet  looking  at  his  hat  and  knew,  positively  knew, 
he  was  saying  to  himself:  "Oh,  where  did  you  get 
that  hat?" 

"Shall  I  come  in  and  assist  you  to  dress,  sir?" 

"Assist  me  to  dress?"  roared  Hicks.  "You  assist 
me  to  dress?  No,  I  can  dress  myself.  I  don't 
need  any  assistance." 

"As  you  wish,  sir;  five  o'clock,  sir,"  and,  hold 
ing  the  clothes  away  from  him,  as  if  it  were  beneath 
his  dignity  and  disposition  to  touch  such  a  suit,  he 
went  out. 

"Assist  me  to  dress?"  snorted  Hicks.  "I 
wonder  if  he  thinks  I  have  to  be  buttoned  up  the 
back." 

The  high  hat  he  had  brought  from  Rextown,  the 
one  commented  on  by  the  reporter  in  the  Con" 
stellation,  was  on  the  bureau.  Hicks  looked  at  it. 
It  had  seemed  a  good,  serviceable  hat  to  him,  but 
he  was  beginning  to  have  his  doubts.  He  took  care 
ful  stock  of  his  other  regalia.  The  waistcoat  was 
there,  the  dress-shirt,  a  white  tie,  his  patent-leather 
shoes,  his  imitation  pearl  studs  and  his  sleeve  links. 
Everything  was  in  order.  He  decided  to  go  down 
stairs  for  a  time,  but  as  he  turned  to  take  a  final 
inventory,  to  make  sure,  his  eye  fell  again  on  that 
silk  hat. 

"I  wonder  what's  the  matter  with  that  hat?"  he 
pondered.  "It's  all  right  in  Rextown.  Looks 
good  to  me."  But  he  recalled  what  the  reporter 
had  said  in  the  paper — a  hat  of  a  style  that  had 
not  been  seen  in  that  hotel  in  ten  years. 

"Damn  it!"  said  Hicks.      "I'll  get  another." 

He  went  to  a  hat  store,  and  aggrieved  to  dis 
cover  that  the  only  sort  of  silk  hat,  as  the  clerk 


264  THE    FAKERS 

assured  him,  a  well-dressed  gentleman  could  wear 
— could — cost  eight  dollars.  There  were  others 
at  ten,  and  some  imported  French  styles  for  fifteen. 
Hicks  hurriedly  bought  an  eight-dollar  one,  feeling 
that  if  he  did  not  invest  immediately,  the  clerk 
would  sell  him  a  French  affair,  and  his  patriotic 
Americanism,  as  well  as  his  financial  prudence,  would 
not  admit  of  that  contingency. 

"Shall  I  send  it?"  asked  the  clerk. 

"No,"  Hicks  replied,  "I'll  take  it.  I  want  to 
wear  it  to-night." 

He  carried  the  hat  back  to  the  hotel,  in  the  paste 
board  box,  and  as  he  entered  the  hotel  engaged  in 
a  series  of  running  fights  with  doormen,  bellboys 
and  elevator  starters,  all  of  whom  wanted  to  take 
it  away  from  him.  Finally,  he  reached  his  room 
and  posed  for  twenty  minutes  in  the  new  hat.  It 
was  an  improvement.  There  was  no  doubt  of  that. 
Hicks  was  glad  he  bought  it,  but  he  felt  it  was  very 
expensive. 

He  had  an  hour  before  it  was  necessary  to  begin 
making  his  toilet,  and  went  down  into  the  lobby. 
He  walked  about,  seeing  no  one  he  knew,  although 
the  hotel  was  full  of  people  Hicks  felt  would  be 
benefited  by  knowing  him.  He  sat  in  one  of  the 
big  chairs  in  a  corridor.  Page  boys,  calling  the 
names  of  men,  constantly  passed  back  and  forth. 

Hicks  was  interested.  He  followed  one  of  the 
boys  to  the  information  desk,  and  heard  him  say: 
"I  can't  find  him,  sir."  Hicks  stood  there  and 
watched  the  procedure.  He  saw  men  come  in,  who 
asked  for  persons  stopping  at  the  hotel.  A  trim 
maid  telephoned  to  the  rooms.  If  there  was  no 
answer  she  asked:  "Shall  I  have  him  paged?"  and 
a  boy  was  summoned  who  started  the  rounds  of  the 
hotel  calling  the  name  of  the  man  wanted. 

Hicks  recalled  how  it  pleased  him  to  hear  the 


THE    FAKERS  26$ 

boy  shouting  his  name  at  noon  that  day,  and  he 
stepped  up  to  the  desk  and  inquired:  "Is  Mr.  T. 
Marmaduke  Hicks,  of  Rextown,  stopping  here?" 

The  information  clerk  turned  over  the  leaves  in 
a  big  book:  "Room  sixteen-twenty-two,"  he  said. 

The  maid  telephoned  to  the  room  and  there  was 
no  answer.  "Shall  I  have  him  paged,  sir?"  she 
asked. 

"Yes,"  Hicks  replied. 

"Who  wants  him,  sir?" 

"Why,  I  do." 

"I  know,  sir,  but  your  name,  please,  or  your 
card." 

Hicks  did  some  quick  thinking.  "Tell  him  Sen 
ator  Paxton  wants  him  and  will  be  waiting  right  over 
here,"  he  said,  indicating  a  seat  nearby. 

The  page-boy  came  and  was  given  his  instructions. 
He  started  off:  "Mr.  Hicks,  please;  room  sixteen- 
twenty-two." 

Hicks  could  hear  him  calling  his  name  down  the 
corridor.  It  was  pleasant  music  to  his  ears,  and 
he  strolled  to  various  parts  of  the  floor  and  listened 
eagerly  as  the  boy  shouted:  "Mr.  Hicks,  please; 
room  sixteen-twenty-two." 

Finally,  the  boy  returned  and  reported  that  Mr. 
Hicks  could  not  be  found.  Hicks  gave  him  ten 
cents  and  decided  he  would  have  himself  paged  fre 
quently.  It  was  a  most  gratifying  experience. 

He  shaved  with  elaborate  care.  His  evening 
coat  was  hanging  in  his  closet,  and  his  trousers  were 
neatly  disposed  over  the  footboard  of  his  bed.  The 
valet  knocked  and  came  in  as  he  was  tying  his  tie, 
held  his  coat  and  overcoat  for  him,  and  handed  him 
his  new  hat.  Hicks  had  put  the  old  one  in  the 
corner  of  the  closet. 

He  looked  savagely  at  the  valet,  but  the  face  of 
that  functionary  was  as  impassive  as  the  wall-paper. 


266  THE    FAKERS 

"Your  gloves,  sir,"  and  the  valet  looked  about  as 
if  to  find  them. 

Hicks  put  his  hand  in  his  overcoat  and  pulled  out 
a  pair  of  heavy  tan  gloves. 

"I  have  them,"  he  said,  stiffly. 

"Very  good,  sir,  but,  if  I  might  be  pardoned  the 
suggestion,  those  are  not  your  white  gloves,  sir.  I 
assume  they  are  in  the  trunk,  sir,"  and  he  moved 
over  as  if  to  explore  that  receptacle. 

"White  gloves!"  shouted  Hicks.  "What  do  I 
want  of  white  gloves?" 

"They  are  usually  worn  when  a  gentleman  is 
going  out,  sir.  If  by  any  chance,  sir,  you  have  for 
gotten  them,  or  mislaid  them,  I  can  procure  you  a 
pair,  sir." 

Hicks  looked  narrowly  at  the  valet.  Dimly,  he 
recalled  that  he  had  worn  white  gloves  at  the  Presi 
dential  receptions  he  had  attended,  years  before,  in 
Washington.  He  hated  the  valet  for  mentioning 
the  oversight,  but  he  wanted  to  be  correct  in  every 
detail  when  he  appeared  before  Mrs.  Lester. 

"Pshaw!"  he  said  weakly,  "I  guess  I  did  forget 
to  put  in  a  pair.  Can  you  get  me  some?" 

"Instantly,  sir.     What  size,  sir?" 

"Oh,  I  don't  know — eights  and  a  half,  I  sup 
pose." 

The  valet  took  one  of  the  tan  gloves,  looked  at 
the  size  mark,  and  vanished.  Ten  minutes  later 
he  came  back  with  a  pair  of  white  gloves.  Hicks 
started  to  put  them  on. 

"If  I  might  suggest,  sir,"  said  the  valet,  "it  would 
be  wise  to  carry  the  gloves  in  the  hand  until  im 
mediately  before  they  are  needed,  sir.  It  preserves 
their  freshness,  sir." 

Hicks  looked  at  this  creature,  who,  apparently 
cringing  before  him,  was,  in  reality,  instructing  him 
in  social  usage. 


THE    FAKERS  267 

"All  right,"  he  said.     "How  much  are  they?" 

"Four  dollars,  sir." 

"Four  dollars?" 

"Yes,  sir,  four  dollars,  sir." 

The  valet  stood  looking  at  him  in  a  most  im 
passive  and  impersonal  manner.  Hicks  handed 
him  a  five-dollar  bill. 

"Keep  it  all,"  he  said. 

"Thank  you,  sir;  anything  else,  sir?  Good  eve 
ning,  sir,"  and  he  went  silently  out.  Hicks  thought 
he  heard  a  satiric  laugh  after  the  door  closed,  and 
he  reproached  himself  for  not  strangling  the  man 
while  he  had  him  in  his  power,  but  his  anger  van 
ished  when  he  looked  at  himself  in  the  glass,  holding 
his  white  gloves  in  his  left  hand,  and  carrying  his 
new  high  hat  in  what  he  considered  a  most  im 
pressive  position  against  his  chest.  He  thought  he 
looked  very  well,  which,  indeed,  he  did,  for  he  was 
a  good  figure  of  a  man,  and  correctly  appointed, 
albeit  his  long  hair  jarred.  It  was  his  firm  con 
viction  that  his  hair  gave  him  the  finishing  touch 
of  elegance,  and  he  put  a  final  polish  on  it  with  the 
brush  before  he  left. 


H 


CHAPTER  XXX 

ICKS  took  a  taxicab  to  the  Dwighton, 
which  is  one  of  the  numerous  hotels 
that  cluster  in  the  numbered  streets  off 
Fifth  Avenue,  a  hotel  with  a  lobby 
garishly  decorated  with  gold  paint,  and 
studded  with  imitation  onyx  pillars.  He  sent  up 
his  name  to  Mrs.  Lester,  and  was  escorted  to  a 
small  reception-room  to  wait.  Mrs.  Lester  said  she 
would  be  down  immediately. 

He  sat  uneasily  on  the  edge  of  a  chair,  balancing 
his  hat  on  his  knee.  He  had  put  on  his  white  gloves 
in  the  taxicab,  and  observed  them  with  much  satis 
faction.  He  waited  for  thirty  minutes  and  was  on 
the  point  of  going  to  the  desk  and  telephoning  to 
Mrs.  Lester  himself  when  she  entered. 

Hicks  rose.  She  stood  for  a  moment  in  the  door 
way,  and  then  advanced,  smiling  radiantly.  Hicks 
grew  hot  and  grew  cold.  All  the  old  feeling  of 
acute  admiration  swept  over  him.  She  wore  a  black 
velvet  gown,  soft,  shimmering,  silky,  that  clung  close 
to  her  superb  figure,  draped  with  a  heavily-embroid 
ered  chiffon  and  an  elaborate  evening  coat,  also 
heavily  embroidered.  The  coat  was  open,  and 
showed  masses  of  creamy  lace  on  her  corsage.  A 
diamond  ornament  glittered  in  the  lace.  Her  face 
was  very  white,  but  not  pallid,  and  her  lips  were 
crimson.  Hicks  noted  a  small  black  patch  coquet- 
tishly  adorning  one  of  her  cheeks,  in  which  there 
were  just  two  suspicions  of  heightened  color,  and 

268 


THE    FAKERS  269 

caught  an  admiring  glimpse  of  a  big  velvet  hat, 
with  a  sweeping  plume. 

"My  dear  Mrs.  Lester,  how  do  you  do?  I  am 
so  glad  to  see  you." 

She  gave  him  her  hand,  prettily  and  unaffectedly, 
as  it  seemed  to  Hicks,  and  said,  brightly:  "It  is  a 
great  pleasure  to  me,  too,  Mr.  Hicks,  to  see  you 
again.  It  seems  ages  since  we  met." 

"Do  you  think  so?"  asked  the  fatuous  Hicks. 
"I  am  delighted  that  you  remember  me  at  all,  and 
you  so  engrossed  with  your  social  duties." 

"Ah,"  she  said,  with  one  of  those  gestures  that 
Hicks  recalled  so  well,  "they  are  a  task,  but,  you 
know,  one  may  as  well  be  out  of  the  world  as  out 
of  society." 

She  disposed  herself  gracefully  in  a  chair,  and 
began  a  little  monologue  recalling  old  days  in  Wash 
ington  and  asking  Hicks  some  adroit  questions  about 
himself.  He  sat  in  ecstatic  amazement,  looking  at 
her  as  she  talked.  She  was  more  mature,  he 
thought,  than  when  he  had  seen  her  last,  but,  so 
far  as  he  could  determine,  more  charming  than  ever. 
The  details  of  her  costume  escaped  him,  but  the 
entrancing  picture  she  presented  kept  his  eyes  con 
stantly  on  her,  and  made  his  heart  thump  a  little, 
and  all  the  time  there  was  in  the  back  of  his  brain 
a  little  thought  that  she  ought  to  be  Mrs.  T.  Mar- 
maduke  Hicks,  provided,  of  course,  another  thought 
constantly  obtruded,  she  really  did  have  the  position 
she  said  she  had,  and  provided  her  fortune  was  as 
great  as  Hicks  thought  it  was. 

Mrs.  Lester  had  spent  some  hours  preparing 
for  this  entrance.  She  had  long  ago  decided  that 
she  was  more  striking  in  black  than  in  any  other 
color,  and  she  had  organized  her  sartorial  scheme 
along  those  lines.  This  dress  was  a  Paris  model 
she  had  obtained  at  a  great  reduction,  and  had  skil- 


270  THE    FAKERS 

fully  brought  into  the  prevailing  mode  by  a  few  deft 
alterations  of  her  own.  She  had  built  herself  up 
with  exceeding  art,  and  knew  she  looked  well,  knew 
it  far  better  than  Hicks  did,  who  was  only  con 
scious  of  the  captivating  ensemble,  and  not  of  the 
carefully  and  artistically  worked-out  details. 

"You  are  here  for  business — or  pleasure?"  she 
asked,  looking  at  him  archly. 

"For  rest,"  Hicks  replied.  "I  worked  very  hard 
in  the  last  campaign,  and  I  came  here  merely  for 
relaxation.  And  you?" 

"Oh,  I  am  here  for  the  usual  woman's  reason. 
I  am  in  the  hands  of  my  modistes  to  secure  a  few 
little  things  I  did  not  have  opportunity  to  acquire 
in  Paris;  I  felt  positively  abashed  when  I  discov 
ered  I  had  not  fully  replenished  my  wardrobe  in 
Paris,  and  was  compelled  to  come  to  New  York, 
where  the  styles  are  so  far  behind,  but,"  she  added, 
brightly,  "I  know  the  Paris  modes  and  can  direct 
the  work." 

"Have  you  been  in  Paris  recently?" 

"Oh,  yes,"  she  replied,  as  if  astonished  at  the 
question.  "Why,  I  go  to  Paris  every  year !  I 
know  so  many  fashionable  people  there  and  they 
positively  insist  on  my  coming  to  them  each 
season." 

Hicks  felt  depressed  over  this.  Here  was  a 
woman  who  associated  constantly  with  the  great  ones 
in  society,  and  he — but  he  put  that  thought  aside. 
He  was  as  good  as  anybody,  and  he  had  a  future 
that  meant  both  position  and  wealth. 

"And  it  is  the  same  here,"  she  continued.  "The 
demands  on  me  by  the  charming  people  are  so 
numerous.  They  positively  insist  on  my  coming 
to  them,  and  in  order,"  and  she  smiled  again  at 
Hicks,  "that  there  may  be  no  jealousies,  you  know, 
I  prefer  to  stop  in  a  hotel  rather  than  to  select 


THE    FAKERS  271 

any  particular  hostess.  I  always  come  to  this  little 
hotel.  It's  quiet  and  refined,  and  so  different  from 
the  garish,  noisy,  shoddy  bigger  hotels,  don't  you 
think?  I  detest  the  atmosphere  of  vulgarity  at 
those  big  hotels,  don't  you?" 

Hicks  hadn't  thought  of  it,  and  had  thought  he 
was  acquiring  merit  by  stopping  at  the  Superbious, 
but  he  assented.  "Yes,"  he  said,  "they  are  vulgar 
and  noisy,  but  rather  necessary  for  a  man  whom 
people  want  to  meet." 

"To  be  sure,"  she  said,  looking  at  him  narrowly, 
and  leaped  into  silence. 

"Where  shall  we  dine?"  asked  Hicks.  "You 
must  choose  the  place.  I  haven't  been  in  New  York 
much  lately,  you  know,  and  while  I  was  formerly 
familiar  with  all  the  restaurants  that  amounted  to 
anything,  I  suppose  they  change  and  new  ones  come 
up.  Will  you  make  a  suggestion?  Any  one  you 
like,"  he  concluded,  grandly,  as  If  to  convey  the 
impression  that  cost  was  not  an  object  of  con 
sideration. 

She  assumed  an  air  of  deep  thought,  as  if  she 
were  pondering  all  the  restaurants  in  the  city.  Long 
before  she  had  selected  the  place,  but  she  seemed 
to  be  considering  the  question  minutely. 

"There's  the  Splendide,"  she  said,  "but  that's  too 
common,  although  the  food  is  good;  and  the  Magni- 
fique,  but  theatrical  persons  go  there;  and  the 
Flamboyant,  but  one  can't  always  be  sure  of  a  select 
company;  and  Richleigh's — why  not  Richleigh's? 
That  is  patronized  by  the  most  exclusive  people. 
Shall  we  say  Richleigh's?" 

"Charmed,"  said  Hicks,  but  his  heart  sank,  for 
he  knew  enough  of  the  restaurants  in  New  York 
to  know  Richleigh's  was  the  most  expensive  of  the 
lot. 

"Very  well,"   she  said.     "I  suppose  we  can  get 


272  THE    FAKERS 

a  table  there,  but,  perhaps,  you  should  telephone 
before  we  start." 

"Telephone!"   exclaimed  Hicks;   "what  for?" 

"Oh,"  she  laughed,  "sometimes  it  is  well  to  in 
form  the  head' waiter  of  your  coming.  Those  head 
waiters,  you  know,  are  autocrats  and  we  want  to 
dine  comfortably,  don't  we?"  She  turned  her  eyes 
on  Hicks  in  a  sort  of  a  trustful  way,  to  remind  him 
she  was  sure  he  would  not  take  her  to  a  lunch 
counter. 

Hicks  went  out  to  the  telephone,  called  up  Rich- 
leigh's  and  asked  for  the  head  waiter.  When  that 
person  came  to  the  telephone  Hicks  assumed  a 
most  important  telephone  manner  and  said.  "I  am 
T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  and  I  desire  to  reserve  a 
table  for  this  evening." 

"Hicks?"  came  the  voice  of  the  head  waiter. 
"Hicks?  I  don't  think  I  have  the  honor  of  knowing 
you,  sir." 

"Possibly  not,"  Hicks  replied,  "but  that  makes 
no  difference.  I  desire  to  dine  with  you  to-night, 
and  shall  expect  you  to  reserve  a  good  table." 

"Very  well,"  the  head  waiter  replied.  "I  think 
I  can  arrange  it.  When  shall  you  arrive?" 

"I  am  starting  from  the  Superbious  at  once," 
said  Hicks,  feeling  he  must  give  himself  as  much 
standing  as  possible,  and  not  caring  to  say  the 
Dwighton,  which  seemed  to  him  a  very  small  hotel. 

"What  success?"  asked  Mrs.  Lester,  as  he  re 
turned. 

"Oh,"  Hicks  replied,  "it  is  all  arranged.  As 
soon  as  I  told  him  my  name  he  fixed  it." 

Mrs.  Lester  looked  at  him  and  smiled  a  little 
smile.  "To  be  sure,"  she  said.  "To  be  sure." 

As  they  careened  towards  the  restaurant  Mrs. 
Lester  said:  "It's  positively  annoying  when  one 
thinks  of  how  much  one  is  at  the  mercy  of  these 


THE    FAKERS  273 

head  waiters.  Unless  you  are  very  well  known,  or 
fee  them  liberally,  they  are  most  offensive." 

"Fee  them?"  asked  Hicks,  in  alarm. 

"Oh,  yes:  it  is  customary  to  give  a  head  waiter 
a  fee  for  such  a  service.  The  tables  are  in  great 
demand,  you  know." 

"How  much  is  customary?"  And  Hicks  thought 
he  might  have  expenses  he  had  not  considered.  Still, 
he  felt  that  any  expense  was  justified  when  his  com 
panion  was  so  beautiful  and  so  well  gowned  as  Mrs. 
Lester. 

"Oh,  a  few  dollars,"  she  replied,  as  if  the  matter 
was  of  minor  importance,  "no  more  than  five  I 
should  say.  I  think  five  dollars  is  about  the  usual 
fee." 

Hicks  fumbled  in  his  pocket  for  his  money,  try 
ing  to  appear  unconcerned.  Mrs.  Lester  looked 
out  of  the  cab  window  and  noticed  nothing.  His 
gloves  bothered  him,  and  he  resolved  to  wait  until 
they  reached  the  restaurant,  which  they  did  in  a 
short  time. 

"Does  the  gentleman  desire  the  cab  to  wait?" 
asked  the  imposing  uniformed  starter  at  Richleigh's. 

Hicks  glanced  at  Mrs.  Lester. 

"Certainly  not,"  she  said. 

"Flow  much?"  asked  Hicks,  and  when  the  man 
said  "Eighty  cents"  gave  him  a  dollar  bill  and  waited 
a  moment  for  change. 

Mrs.  Lester  had  started  up  the  steps.  The 
chauffeur  looked  impudently  at  Hicks  and  made  no 
move  to  return  change. 

"That's  all  right,"  Hicks  said,  after  a  moment's 
hesitation,  and  followed  Mrs.  Lester  into  the  lobby. 

A  maid  came  forward  to  take  her  wrap,  and  a 
boy  in  buttons  snatched  Hicks's  hat  and  coat.  Mrs. 
Lester  vanished  into  a  retiring-room,  and  Hicks 
stood  uneasily  waiting  for  her.  In  ten  minutes  she 


274  THE    FAKERS 

came  out.  Hicks  saw  the  perfect  whiteness  of  her 
throat  and  bosom,  the  jewel  flashing  in  her  lace, 
and  noted  her  grace  of  carriage  and  her  general 
appearance  of  fashionable  distinction.  He  was 
highly  pleased  with  himself  for  asking  her  to  dinner. 

While  he  was  standing  in  the  hall  he  had  taken 
a  five-dollar  bill  from  his  money,  and  had  crumpled 
it  in  his  hand.  The  head  waiter  came  forward  to 
meet  them. 

"Have  you  reserved  a  table?"  he  asked. 

"Yes,"tHicks  said,  "Mr.  Hicks." 

"Certainly,  Monsieur.  Mr.  Hicks;  ah,  yes,"  but 
he  made  no  effort  to  escort  them  into  the  room. 

Mrs.  Lester  flashed  a  glance  at  Hicks,  who  held 
out  his  hand  containing  the  crumpled  five-dollar  bill. 
The  head  waiter  deftly  extracted  the  bill  from 
Hicks's  clasp,  bowed  low:  "This  way,  Monseiur 
Hicks,"  he  said,  and  led  them  into  the  room. 

Mrs.  Lester  swept  ahead  of  Hicks,  who  followed 
in  a  haze.  He  saw  dozens  of  small  tables,  with 
shaded  lights,  surrounded  by  women  in  decollete 
gowns  and  men  in  evening  dress,  heard  an  orchestra 
that  was  playing  somewhere,  and  noted  dozens  of 
waiters  scurrying  about.  The  air  of  the  room  was 
heavy  with  the  odor  of  flowers  and  perfumes,  and 
there  was  a  babble  of  laughing  conversation.  It 
seemed  like  a  scene  in  a  play  to  Hicks.  He  tried 
to  see  as  much  of  it  as  he  could,  and  stepped  on 
Mrs.  Lester's  train.  She  turned  with  a  little  expres 
sion  of  impatience,  smiled,  and  he  begged  an  awk 
ward  pardon.  A  woman  near  him  laughed.  Hicks 
blushed,  glued  his  eyes  on  the  white  expanse  of 
Mrs.  Lester's  back  and  blindly  followed  her. 

The  head  waiter  brought  them  to  a  table,  elab 
orately  held  a  chair  for  Mrs.  Lester,  who  sat  down 
with  the  utmost  grace.  Hicks  noticed  that  many 
of  the  men  nearby  were  staring  at  her,  and  that 


THE    FAKERS  275 

the  women  were  apparently  commenting  on  her  in 
low  tones.  He  considered  this  a  compliment  to 
himself  instead  of  to  her,  and  was  gratified  over  the 
attention  he  had  attracted.  Mrs.  Lester  was  su 
perbly  unconscious  of  the  little  sensation  her  en 
trance  had  made,  placed  her  gold  bag — at  least, 
Hicks  thought  it  was  a  gold  bag — on  the  table,  sat 
back  in  her  chair  and  took  a  calm  survey  of  the 
room.  The  head  waiter  stood  by  w7ith  a  pencil 
and  pad  of  paper. 

She  began  leisurely  to  remove  her  gloves,  giving 
no  sign  that  she  knew  the  head  waiter  was  within 
a  mile  of  her.  It  seemed  to  Hicks  she  recognized 
various  persons  at  other  tables,  for  she  nodded  and 
smiled  brightly,  but  Hicks  did  not  observe  there  was 
no  person  in  the  quarter  towards  which  the  nods 
and  smiles  were  directed. 

He  pulled  off  his  white  gloves,  and  took  a  menu 
card.  It  was  a  large  menu  card,  printed  in  fine 
type,  and  containing  a  most  amazing  array  of  dishes. 
The  type  blurred  before  Hicks's  eyes.  He  tried  to 
concentrate  his  gaze  on  the  card.  He  saw  strange 
dishes  named  in  a  strange  language. 

"What  shall  it  be?"  he  gulped. 

Mrs.  Lester  nonchalantly  picked  up  the  card,  and 
scanned  it. 

"Some  oysters?"  asked  Hicks,  in  desperation. 

"Oysters?"  she  repeated,  as  if  it  had  just  occurred 
to  her  that  oysters  were  ever  eaten.  "Oh,  yes,  if 
you  like  them,  but,"  and  she  hesitated  prettily, 
"why  not  a  melon?  Have  you  any  melons, 
waiter?" 

"Old,  madame,  if  you  desire  them." 

"Melons  in  November!"  thought  Hicks.  They 
would  cost  something. 

"A  melon,  then,  chilled;  and  soup.  What  soup 
do  you  prefer,  Mr.  Hicks?" 


276  THE    FAKERS 

"Oh,"  Hicks  replied,  reduced  to  a  state  of  utter 
collapse,  "any  soup." 

"Bortsch,  then,"  she  ordered.  "I  adore  Bortsch, 
if  they  know  how  to  make  it."  She  said  a  few 
rapid  words  in  French  to  the  head  waiter  and  Hicks 
listened  and  cursed  his  lack  of  knowledge  of  that 
language. 

"I  learned  to  like  Bortsch  in  Russia,"  she  told 
Hicks.  "It  is  wonderful,  if  they  can  do  it  as  the 
Russians  do." 

"Fish,  Madame?"  asked  the  waiter. 

"Do  you  care  for  fish?"  she  asked  Hicks.  "I 
think  a  little  pompano  a  la  papiolette  would  be  very 
nice." 

"Certainly,"  assented  Hicks,  "fish  by  all  means." 

"And,"  she  continued  rapidly,  "a  pheasant,  and 
some  potatoes  souffle  and  some  crisp  endive,  and 
an  ice  and  coffee." 

"Anything  with  the  fish?"  asked  the  head  waiter, 
who  had  written  down  the  order. 

"A  few  slices  of  cucumbers,"  she  replied,  "with 
a  cream  dressing." 

Cucumbers !  Those  were  out  of  season,  too. 
Hicks  nervously  computed  the  amount  of  money  he 
had  with  him. 

The  head  waiter  called  another  waiter  and  turned 
the  order  over  to  him.  Water-glasses,  knives, 
forks,  napery,  rolls  and  butter  appeared  on  the 
table  as  if  by  magic. 

"Will  madame  have  a  cocktail?"  asked  the  head 
waiter. 

She  looked  questioningly  at  Hicks,  who  nodded 
dumbly.  "Two  very  dry  martinis,"  she  said. 

"And  what  wine  do  you  prefer?" 

She  looked  again  at  Hicks. 

"Champagne,"  ordered  Hicks,  determined  to 
have  some  hand  in  the  ordering.  The  waiter  gave 


THE    FAKERS  277 

him  a  wine-card.  He  read  unknowing  the  vast 
array  of  wines  listed  therein. 

"Ah,  yes,"  said  the  head-waiter,  "Champagne! 
And  what  brand  shall  it  be?" 

Champagne  was  champagne  to  Hicks.  He 
moved  uneasily  in  his  chair. 

"That  Panzan  of  ninety-eight  is  very  good,"  sug 
gested  Mrs.  Lester.  Hicks  nodded  again.  Later, 
lie  noted  that  Panzan,  ninety-eight,  was  eight  dol 
lars  a  bottle,  and  he  nervously  recounted  his  money. 


CHAPTER    XXXI 

MRS.  LESTER  made  a  detailed  survey 
of  the  room.    "There  are  the  Bezon- 
iuses  over  there,"  she  said,  inclining 
her  head  towards  one  quarter  of  the 
room.      "Their   daughter   married    a 
Count  Crispini  and  is  very  high  in  Roman  society. 
Two    tables    from    them    are    the    Scaddsleighs — I 
must  speak  to  them  before  we  leave — very  wealthy, 
and  related  by  marriage   to  the   Rockstons.     One 
of  their  daughters  married  a  Russian  nobleman  and 
that   tall    girl    in    cerise    with    them    is    Mrs.    Jack 
Jacqueminot,  their  other  daughter,  who  married  the 
Earl  of  Addlinton,   and  divorced  him  last  winter. 
The  papers  were  full  of  it  at  the  time." 

"What's  cerise?"  asked  Hicks,  who  was  filled 
with  awe  at  her  familiarity  with  the  great  ones  of 
the  society  columns. 

"A  color,"  she  laughed.  "Oh,  you  men ! 
"There,"  and  she  gave  a  vague  indication  with  her 
head,  "are  the  Grandleys  and  the  Ibbertons — a  din 
ner  before  the  opera,  I  take  it" — she  continued, 
mentioning  many  people  with  an  easy  familiarity 
that  astounded  Hicks.  Evidently,  she  was  on  terms 
with  them  all. 

Mrs.  Lester  soon  discovered  that  any  woman  in 
an  evening  gown  was  a  social  leader  to  Hicks's 
untutored  gaze,  and  she  grew  more  specific,  and 
fascinated  him  by  relating  bits  of  personal  history 
concerning  those  in  the  room.  Hicks  felt  he  was 

278 


THE    FAKERS  279 

indeed  fortunate,  for  he  was  privileged  to  dine  that 
night  in  company  with  about  all  the  leaders  of  the 
inner  and  most  exclusive  social  circle  of  New  York. 
He  listened  closely,  and  asked  a  question  now  and 
then  based  on  what  he  had  seen  in  newspapers, 
to  show  Mrs.  Lester  he  was  not  entirely  ignorant  of 
the  people  she  knew  so  intimately.  It  never  occurred 
to  Hicks  that  none  of  these  people  were  in  the 
room,  or,  at  best,  a  very  few  of  them. 

The  cocktail  came,  and  she  lifted  the  glass  to 
him  and  said:  "A  votre  saute,  Monsieur." 

Hicks  bowed:  "Your  very  good  health,"  he  re 
plied,  and  they  both  drank.  He  felt  the  glow  of  the 
mixture  within  him,  and  was  happy.  After  the 
melon  was  on  the  table  Mrs.  Lester  said:  "But 
all  this  social  chatter  must  bore  you.  Tell  me  about 
yourself,  Mr.  Hicks,  and  what  you  have  been  doing 
since  I  last  saw  you." 

Hicks  launched  into  the  story  of  his  career.  The 
meal  was  served  rapidly  and  skillfully.  The  wine 
came  and  Hicks  drank  a  glass  or  two.  By  that 
time  his  face  was  a  little  flushed  and  he  was  leaning 
forward,  talking  with  intense  earnestness  about 
what  he  had  done  and  what  he  expected  to  do. 

"And  that  is  not  all,"  he  said,  after  he  had  fin 
ished  the  story  of  the  campaign  to  Mrs.  Lester, 
who  displayed  a  most  flattering  interest,  "that  is 
not  all.  I  may  tell  you  something  in  strict  con 
fidence,  I  suppose." 

"Why,  yes,  Mr.  Hicks,"  she  replied.  "You  can 
trust  me,  I  am  sure." 

"Well,"  he  said,  lowering  his  voice  a  bit,  "I  ex 
pect  to  be  made  a  United  States  Senator  within  a 
short  time." 

Mrs.  Lester  clapped  her  hands  softly.  "Oh,  Mr. 
Hicks,"  she  exclaimed,  "how  splendid;  how  per 
fectly  splendid!  You  a  Senator!  Isn't  it  just  too 


280  THE    FAKERS 

wonderful.  Tell  me  all  about  it,"  and  she  looked 
at  him  with  a  most  bewitching  smile.  "I  am  tre 
mendously  interested." 

"Yes,"  continued  Hicks,  rather  pompously.  "My 
services  are  to  be  recognized.  I  hold  the  promise 
of  the  governor-elect  that  as  soon  as  Senator  Fil- 
kins  dies  he  will  appoint  me  to  fill  the  vacancy." 

"Is  Senator  Filkins  ill?"  she  asked. 

"Likely  to  die  at  any  moment.  Then,  when  I  get 
the  appointment,  I  shall  of  course,  go  to  Washing 
ton  and  take  my  seat,  and  later,  when  the  primaries 
come,  will  enter  those  and  shall  have  no  difficulty 
at  all — no  difficulty  at  all,  I  assure  you — of  winning 
in  that  fight  and  being  selected  for  the  full  term. 
Senator  Filkins's  term  will  expire  a  year  from  next 
March,  anyhow,  and  with  the  leverage  I  shall  have 
by  virtue  of  my  place  in  the  Senate  I  shall  be  in 
a  commanding  position,  and  shall  take  my  rightful 
place  in  the  upper  branch  of  the  Congress." 

Mrs.  Lester  listened  to  him  with  parted  lips.  A 
Senator?  This  young  man  a  Senator?  She  won 
dered  if  what  he  said  were  true,  and  she  questioned 
him  skillfully  and  had  him  repeat  the  details  of 
the  promise  and  his  assurances  that  Dawson  would, 
undoubtedly,  keep  his  pledge. 

There  were  few  persons  left  in  the  restaurant 
when  their  coffee  was  served.  Hicks  had  been  so 
interested  in  his  tale  of  himself  he  had  not  noticed 
that  many  of  the  women  present  had  puffed  at 
cigarettes  after  their  dinner  and  he  was  vastly  aston 
ished  when  Mrs.  Lester,  apropos  of  nothing,  so  far 
as  he  could  observe,  said: 

"Oh,  Mr.  Hicks,  I  have  never  seen  you  smoke." 

Hicks  reflected  that  he  had  taken  a  cocktail  and 
some  wine  with  her,  but  the  ruling  passion  was 
strong  with  him,  and  he  replied:  "No;  I  rarely 
smokeJ" 


THE    FAKERS  281 

"What  would  you  say,"  she  asked  archly,  "if  I 
told  you  I  smoke  an  occasional  cigarette." 

Hicks  had  never  seen  a  respectable  woman  smoke 
a  cigarette  in  his  life.  He  had  seen  old  women  in 
the  country  who  smoked  pipes,  and  had  told  them 
he  approved  of  it  when  he  thought  it  was  to  his 
political  advantage  to  do  so.  He  was  astonished. 

"You  do?"  he  exclaimed.  "You  smoke  cigar 
ettes?" 

"Yes,"  she  replied,  taking  a  gold  cigarette  case 
out  of  her  handbag,  "and  if  you  don't  object  I  shall 
smoke  one  now." 

She  selected  a  cigarette.  It  was  gold-tipped  and 
she  held  it  out  to  Hicks  so  he  might  see  it  was 
embellished  with  her  coat-of-arms.  Then  she  took 
a  wax  taper  from  a  tiny  gold  matchbox,  lighted  the 
cigarette  daintily  and  blew  a  cloud  of  fragrant  smoke 
towards  Hicks. 

"Have  one?"  she  asked  holding  out  her  cigarette 
case. 

"No,  thank  you." 

"Oh,  have  one,"  she  persisted  prettily,  blowing 
a  wreath  of  smoke  at  him.  "Please  do." 

He  handled  the  proffered  case  gingerly.  Then 
he  selected  a  cigarette  and  lighted  it.  It  was  the 
best  cigarette  he  had  ever  smoked.  After  a  pre 
liminary  puff  he  drew  a  deep  mouthful  of  smoke 
into  his  lungs,  and  exhaled  it  in  the  straight,  steady 
stream  of  the  practiced  cigarette  smoker. 

She  looked  at  him  and  laughed.  "Fibber!"  she 
said,  leaning  over  and  tapping  him  on  the  arm. 

Hicks  blushed.  "Oh,  well,"  he  explained,  lamely, 
"I  never  do,  you  know — in  public — not  much." 

"Never  mind,"  she  said,  "I  shan't  tell." 

Hicks  reproached  himself  for  so  far  losing  his 
pose  as  to  inhale  that  smoke,  but  she  said  nothing 
more  about  it  and  smoked  another  cigarette,  saying 


282  THE    FAKERS 

it  was  the  universal  custom  among  the  ladies  of 
Europe. 

Hicks  accepted  what  Mrs.  Lester  said  was  an 
accurate  portrayal  of  an  aspect  of  high  society  she 
had  never  observed  before,  and  was  attracted  by 
the  grace  with  which  she  handled  her  cigarette. 
It  was  so  cosmopolitan  in  her,  he  thought,  and  dis 
missed  the  matter  from  his  mind  because  of  his 
larger  concern  in  his  further  recital  of  his  own 
excellent  qualities.  He  hinted  he  had  done  very 
well  in  a  financial  way  in  Rextown,  boasted  of  the 
size  and  profit  of  his  law  practice,  and  felt,  when  he 
left  Mrs.  Lester  at  the  Dwighton  that  night,  that  he 
had  laid  secure  foundations  for  himself  in  her 
thoughts. 

He  considered  her  not  only  a  beautiful,  but  a 
most  talented  woman,  and,  in  thinking  of  himself 
in  the  possible  position  of  her  husband,  convinced 
himself  she  would  be  of  great  aid  to  him  in  Wash 
ington  in  attaining  social  position  which  he  now 
began  to  crave,  and  the  possibility  that  there  might 
be  more  fashionable,  more  beautiful,  cleverer  women 
in  Washington,  or  elsewhere,  than  Mrs.  Lester  did 
not  occur  to  Hicks.  He  knew  she  was  far  and  away 
superior  in  these  advantageous  traits  to  any  woman 
in  Rextown,  and  he  was  measuring  her  by  Rextown 
standards. 

He  was  in  her  company  as  frequently  as  she  al 
lowed  him  to  be,  took  her  to  the  theater,  for  after 
noon  rides  in  Central  Park  on  bright  days,  and  had 
her  at  dinner  three  times.  Mrs.  Lester,  appar 
ently,  welcomed  his  attentions,  but  twice  kept  him 
away  for  two  days  at  a  time,  saying  she  had  social 
duties  that  required  her  attention.  She  intimated, 
without  saying  so,  that  she  was  making  rounds  of 
calls  on  the  folks  who  live  upon  and  adjacent  to 
upper  Fifth  Avenue.  Hicks  wondered  why  she 


THE    FAKERS  283 

didn't  ask  him  to  go  with  her,  and  once  or  twice 
hinted  he  would  be  glad  to  meet  her  friends;  but  she 
said  she  was  merely  calling  on  women  acquaintances, 
and  keeping  up  her  intimacies,  and  that  she  was 
sure  he  would  not  enjoy  these  feminine  inter 
changes.  However,  she  casually  mentioned  the 
names  of  social  leaders  as  if  these  were  the  per 
sons  with  whom  she  was  familiar,  and  Hicks  was 
duly  impressed. 

After  ten  days  Hicks  decided  he  must  move  on. 
He  spent  several  hours  on  the  afternoon  before  his 
last  dinner  with  her  considering  the  advisability  of 
proposing  marriage  to  her,  but  decided  to  wait. 
It  would  do  no  harm  to  consider  the  matter  further, 
although  he  was  strongly  attracted  to  her,  and  he 
wanted  to  make  as  sure  as  possible  of  the  size  of 
her  fortune.  If  she  had  a  fair  amount  of  money, 
as  he  was  almost  sure  she  had,  he  would  marry  her. 
He  had  no  idea  there  was  the  possibility  of  a  re 
fusal  on  her  part.  That  phase  of  it  never  entered 
into  his  calculations. 

He  had  tried,  time  and  again,  to  lead  her  up 
to  the  point  of  confiding  in  him  just  how  much 
money  she  had,  and  how  it  was  invested,  and  each 
time  she  had  cleverly  evaded  his  questions,  although 
she  talked  knowingly  of  stocks  and  bonds  and  "the 
Street"  and  all  that.  She  was  adorable  at  that  last 
dinner,  urging  Hicks  to  further  exaltation  of  him 
self,  and  listening  with  a  most  attentive  and  appre 
ciative  air.  As  he  bade  her  good-by  at  the  Dwigh- 
ton  he  held  her  hand  and  said :  "Mrs.  Lester,  these 
few  days  shall  ever  remain  in  my  memory.  I  shall 
live  in  the  hope  di  seeing  you  soon  again,  and,  some 
day  I  hope — I  trust — I— 

"Yes,"  she  said,  softly. 

"I  shall  see  you  again,"  he  concluded,  lamely, 
and  pressing  her  hand  again  he  hurried  out. 


284  THE    FAKERS 

"All  I  have  to  do  is  to  say  the  word,"  Hicks 
thought,  as  he  walked  towards  the  Hotel  Superbious. 

"He  is  ready  to  be  picked  whenever  I  see  fit  to 
pick  him,"  was  Mrs.  Lester's  view  of  the  situation, 
as  she  went  up  in  the  elevator. 


H 


CHAPTER    XXXII 

ICKS  had  stayed  so  long  in  New  York 
he  had  only  a  day  in  Washington,  and 
he  was  much  disappointed  in  not  find 
ing    Senator   Paxton   there.      Madden 
told  him  things  were  in  good  shape, 
and  asked  Hicks  about  his  prospective  Senatorship. 
"It  all  depends  on  how  long  Filkins  lives,"  Hicks 
told  him.     "I'll  get  it  if  he  dies  when  the  Legisla 
ture  isn't  in  session." 

"He's  hanging  on  like  a  puppy  to  a  root,"  ob 
served  Madden.  "How  those  old  chaps  do  hate 
to  give  up  office  or  life,  which  is  synonymous  with 
office,  to  a  good  many  of  them.  Is  this  generally 
known?" 

"Oh,  no,"  said  Hicks,  in  alarm.  "Nobody 
knows  it  but  a  few  people.  You  must  regard  it  as 
sacredly  confidential." 

"All  right,"  Madden  replied.  "I'll  say  nothing 
about  it.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  do  anything,  by 
word  or  deed,  that  might  prevent  such  an  addition 
to  the  Senate  as  yourself.  Things  are  getting  pretty 
dull  around  here." 

"Well,"  Hicks  said,  complacently,  "I'll  stir  them 
up  when  I  get  in.  Good-by,  Madden.  Next  time 
I  see  you  I'll  be  a  Senator." 

"Good-by,  Hicks.  Good  luck!"  and  as  Hicks 
went  out  Madden  lighted  a  cigar,  puffed  at  it  for 
a  moment,  then,  taking  it  from  his  mouth  and  re- 

285 


286  THE    FAKERS 

garding  the  lighted  end  intently,  he  said:  "Well, 
I'll  be  damned." 

Hicks  had  himself  interviewed  about  Democratic 
prospects  when  he  returned  to  Rextown,  and  ex 
pressed  the  matured  opinion,  based  on  his  observa 
tions  in  the  East,  and  his  consultations  with  the 
great  leaders  of  both  parties,  who  confided  in  him 
innermost  thoughts — he  said — that  the  recent  Demo 
cratic  victories  were  but  the  forerunners  of  a  tidal 
wave  that  would  sweep  his  party  into  power  in  the 
Nation. 

He  saw  little  of  Rollins,  although  he  made  it  a 
point  to  seek  Rollins  out  and  confer  with  him  when 
ever  possible.  Hicks  felt  that  something  had  come 
between  himself  and  Rollins,  but  he  could  not  find 
out  what,  and  Rollins  gave  no  sign.  Rollins  was 
polite,  affable,  but  he  seemed  to  have  lost  interest 
in  Hicks.  Hicks  wondered  if  Rollins  had  learned 
of  his  action  at  the  Democratic  state  convention, 
and  questioned  McGinnis  closely,  but  McGinnis 
stoutly  held  he  had  not  breathed  a  word  and  Hicks 
knew  Dawson  had  not  told. 

There  was  a  great  Democratic  jubilation  at  the 
State  capital  the  night  before  the  inauguration  of 
Governor  Dawson.  Hicks  insisted  on  speaking  and 
did  speak,  sonorously  and  eloquently,  and  did  not 
fail  to  take  his  full  share  of  credit  for  the  "glori 
ous  result  at  the  polls  to  be  consummated  on  the 
morrow."  He  was  closest  to  Governor  Dawson 
when  that  statesman  made  his  inaugural  speech,  and 
stood  as  near  as  possible  to  him  at  the  reception 
that  followed.  He  sought  the  political  writers  and 
bored  them  with  his  views  of  the  situation,  State 
and  national,  in  the  hope  that  something  of  what 
he  said  would  be  printed,  something  containing  his 
name.  He  stayed  at  the  capital  for  ten  days,  and 
was  of  considerable  assistance  to  Dawson  through 


THE    FAKERS  287 

his  knowledge  of  the  politics  in  the  Rextown  dis 
trict.  Hicks  was  a  rather  adroit  politician,  and 
he  had  strength  among  the  \vorkingmen  and  the 
farmers.  He  urged  the  appointment  of  three  of 
his  lieutenants  for  good  places,  secured  a  clerkship 
in  the  Legislature,  and  invariably  wired  to  the  ap 
pointees  and  the  Rextown  Chronicle  telling  of  his 
part  in  what  had  been  done  by  Dawson.  He  was 
affable,  and  it  was  impossible  to  rebuff  him,  and 
Dawson  gradually  grew  to  have  a  kindlier  opinion 
of  him,  especially  as  Hicks  was  amenable  to  any 
suggestion  and  would  do  anything  he  thought  would 
advance  him  in  the  regard  of  the  Governor.  Daw- 
son  sent  him  on  one  or  two  minor  missions  and 
Hicks  never  failed  to  bring  back  what  was  re 
quired. 

He  wrote  to  Mrs.  Lester,  after  he  had  returned 
to  Rextown,  and  had  resumed  his  law,  and  received 
a  cordial,  but  rather  impersonal  reply.  She  waited 
a  fortnight  before  answering.  The  letter  came 
from  Washington.  Mrs.  Lester  said  she  had  re 
turned  there  for  the  winter.  Hicks  tried  again, 
and  again  received  a  chatty  letter,  with  kind  in 
quiries  about  himself  and  his  health,  but  nothing 
more. 

Senator  Filkins  was  in  a  sanitarium  in  the  East. 
There  was  an  occasional  paragraph  in  the  papers 
about  him.  He  was  an  old  man,  and  while  the 
papers  did  not  say  so,  the  inference  in  these  dis 
patches  was  that  his  physical  breakdown  was  com 
plete  and  that  he  would  not  recover.  Mrs.  Lester 
saw  the  dispatches,  and,  after  the  third  one,  wrote 
a  longer  letter  to  Hicks,  and  became  somewhat  less 
reserved  and  impersonal.  Hicks  replied  and  gushed 
a  little. 

She  read  this  letter  from  Hicks  in  her  room  at 
Mrs.  Lake's,  smiled  and  laid  it  aside,  and  took  up 


288  THE    FAKERS 

the  newspaper.     At  the  top  of  the  second  column  on 
the  first  page  she  saw  this  item: 

"SENATOR   FILKINS   FAILING 

"AGED    STATESMAN    is    GRADUALLY    LOSING    STRENGTH 

AND  THE  WORST  is  FEARED. 

"Greeleysburg,  February  15. — United  States 
Senator  Henry  M.  Filkins,  who  has  been  at  a  sani 
tarium  in  this  village  for  several  months,  is  grad 
ually  losing  strength.  He  is  suffering  from  a  com 
plication  of  diseases  and  because  of  his  great  age 
is  not  expected  to  recover.  The  attending  physi 
cians  say  his  remarkable  vitality  may  keep  him  alive 
for  several  weeks,  or  he  may  die  within  a  few  days. 
Everything  possible  is  being  done  for  the  Senator, 
who  is  in  a  comatose  condition  most  of  the  time, 
but  there  is  no  expectation  of  his  recovery.  The 
members  of  his  family  are  here." 

"Senator  Filkins,"  an  editorial  note  that  followed 
the  despatch  said,  "is  seventy-nine  years  old,  and 
has  not  been  active  for  a  year.  His  term  will  ex 
pire  on  the  fourth  of  March  next  year.  The  Legis 
lature  in  his  State  is  now  in  session,  and  a  successor 
will  be  elected  in  case  he  dies  before  adjournment. 
If  he  does  not  die  until  after  adjournment  the 
appointment  of  his  successor  will  rest  with  Gov 
ernor  Dawson,  who  is  a  Democrat,  and  who  will, 
undoubtedly,  appoint  a  Democrat  to  fill  the  unex- 
pired  term  until  such  time  as  the  Legislature  shall 
elect.  Thus  far,  no  candidates  for  the  Filkins  seat 
have  publicly  appeared." 

Mrs.  Lester  read  and  reread  that  dispatch  and 
the  following  paragraph.  Apparently,  Hicks  had 
not  misstated  the  case  so  far  as  the  illness  of  the 
Senator,  and  his  probable  death  were  concerned, 


THE    FAKERS  289 

and  he  was  correct  as  to  the  subsequent  details. 
She  neglected  her  usual  morning  processes  of  re 
juvenation,  and  sat  in  her  kimono  and  considered 
every  aspect  of  the  situation,  frankly  and  ex 
haustively. 

"I  am  thirty-six  years  old,"  she  thought,  "and  the 
fight  to  appear  and  act  younger  is  extremely  la 
borious  as  well  as  expensive  and  will  become  more 
so.  My  income  is  not  large,  and  my  ambition  is 
great.  I  have  had  some  opportunities  to  marry, 
but  have  not  married  because  none  of  the  men  who 
offered  to  marry  me  had  the  requisite  fortune  or 
position.  There  is  no  doubt  that  I  can  marry  Hicks 
if  I  choose,  and  while  he  may  not  be  rich,  he,  prob 
ably,  has  some  money,  and  he  will  give  me  high 
official  position  here  as  his  wife  when  he  becomes 
a  United  States  Senator.  I  shall  have  the  social 
opportunities  I  crave,  and  I  can  do  what  I  please 
with  him.  I  have  no  real  regard  for  him,  but  I 
want  position,  and  he  can  furnish  that.  Hicks  is  a 
faker,  but  so  am  I,  and  I  am  more  skillful  at  it 
than  he  is.  With  my  capabilities,  and  his  position, 
I  can  do  what  I  please  in  official  society  here,  once 
I  get  started,  and  the  remaking  of  Hicks  to  rid 
him  of  some  of  his  grosser  faults  can  come  later. 
It  stands  to  reason  that  he  has  a  certain  amount  of 
ability  or  he  would  not  have  progressed  so  far. 
If  he  is  sure  of  that  appointment,  I  might  marry 
him,  on  the  chance  that  he  can  be  elected  afterwards, 
and,  even  if  he  is  not,  I  shall  always  be  Mrs.  Sen 
ator  Hicks,  and  that  is  better  than  being  Mrs. 
Alys  Lester." 

Senator  Filkins  would  die.  That  was  certain,  but 
would  he  die  before  the  Legislature  readjourned  so 
Governor  Dawson  would  not  have  the  power  to 
name  his  successor?  The  whole  situation  de 
volved  on  that.  She  had  a  Congressional  Direc- 


29o  THE    FAKERS 

tory,  which  she  was  accustomed  to  study  in  order 
to  familiarize  herself  with  the  details  of  Senate  and 
House  organizations  so  she  might  talk  intelligently 
about  those  things  to  the  statesmen  she  happened 
to  meet.  She  looked  in  that  and  found  that  Sen 
ator  Filkins  was  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Com 
mittee.  After  she  had  completed  her  toilet  she 
went  downstairs  to  the  telephone  and  called  the 
Capitol. 

"Main,  3120,  please,"  she  said. 

"Capitol,"  answered  the  girl  at  the  Capitol 
switchboard,  after  a  time. 

"Give  me  the  Senate  Committee  on  Judiciary, 
please.  Hello — is  this  the  Committee  on  Judiciary 
—this  is  Mrs.  Lester,  an  old  friend  of  the  family 
of  Senator  Filkins — I  have  read  the  dispatch  in 
the  paper  this  morning  and  am  greatly  concerned — 
can  you  tell  me  if  it  is  true  the  Senator  is  in  im 
minent  peril  of  death?" 

"Just  a  moment,  please,"  said  a  voice  at  the  other 
end  of  the  line,  "I'll  call  the  Senator's  secretary." 

Mrs.  Lester  repeated  her  inquiry  when  the  secre 
tary  came. 

"Why,  no,"  he  replied.  "That  is  not  our  under 
standing.  It  is  true  the  Senator  is  111  and  is  grad 
ually  sinking,  but  we  had  a  despatch  from  his  doc 
tors  this  morning  saying  there  has  been  no  change 
for  the  worse  and  that  he  will  undoubtedly  live  for 
some  weeks,  perhaps  months,  yet,  unless  something 
unforseen  happens.  His  heart  action  is  still  good 
and  his  vitality  amazing." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Mrs.  Lester,  sweetly. 

She  returned  to  her  room.  The  chances  were 
the  Senator  might  live  for  a  time,  and  she  remem 
bered  that  Hicks  had  told  her  the  session  of  the 
Legislature  expired  by  limitation  in  March. 
Therefore,  it  all  depended  on  the  truth  of  what 


THE    FAKERS  291 

Hicks  had  said  about  his  promise  from  Dawson. 
She  debated  the  question  and  decided  Hicks  would 
not  lie  about  it,  to  her  at  least;  but  to  make  sure 
she  drew  Hammerton,  a  western  representative  who 
lived  in  the  adjoining  State  not  far  from  Yorkville, 
into  a  conversation  after  dinner  that  night. 

"I  see  that  new  governor,  Dawson,  is  making  a 
great  stir  with  reform  measures,"  she  said. 

"Yes,"  Hammerton  answered,  "he  is  pushing 
about  every  issue  we  have  at  present." 

"How  did  he  happen  to  win?  Isn't  that  a  Re 
publican  State?" 

"Normally,  but  these  are  abnormal  times." 

"Is  Dawson  a  good  man?" 

"Fairly  so,  but  not  so  good  as  the  man  he  de 
feated  for  the  nomination — Mulford." 

"If  he  wasn't  the  best  man  how  did  he  happen 
to  be  nominated?"  she  asked.  "Don't  they  always 
nominate  the  best  man?"  she  continued,  innocently. 

"Almost  never,"  laughed  Hammerton.  "I  hap 
pened  to  be  in  Yorkville  when  that  convention  was 
held,  and  I  dropped  in  on  the  last  day.  Dawson 
was  nominated  after  a  lot  of  ballots  because  the 
Rextown  outfit  quit  Mulford  at  the  critical  time 
and  came  over  to  him.  Some  deal,  I  reckon." 

"Oh,"  she  said,  sympathetically,  "poor  Mr.  Mul 
ford." 

Convinced  that  Hicks  had  told  the  truth,  she  went 
early  to  her  room  and,  after  releasing  herself  from 
her  stays,  and  making  a  few  of  her  nightly  beauti- 
fication  preliminaries,  turned  her  mind  to  the  Hicks 
problem. 

Obviously  her  plan  of  action  was  to  secure  Hicks 
as  soon  as  he  was  appointed,  and  before  he  reached 
Washington,  for  she  knew  he  would  be  so  elated 
with  his  new  honors  that  she  might  have  difficulty 
in  netting  him  in  Washington.  Therefore,  her 


292  THE    FAKERS 

place  was  in  Rextown,  on  the  spot,  so  that  he  might 
have  no  chance  to  escape.  She  was  fully  determined 
to  marry  him,  and  what  she  needed  was  a  rea 
sonable  excuse  for  her  appearance  in  Rextown,  for 
the  conduct  of  her  campaign. 

She  might  pretend  she  had  relatives  there,  but 
she  hadn't  and  Hicks  would  ask  who  they  were. 
She  wondered  if  there  was  a  famous  doctor  there 
whom  she  might  consult,  but  dismissed  that  as  too 
flimsy.  She  considered  the  plan  of  going  to  Chicago 
to  consult  her  attorneys,  finding  there  was  to  be 
several  weeks'  delay,  and  dropping  into  Rextown  for 
a  time,  instead  of  remaining  in  Chicago,  which  she 
loathed,  or  could  loathe  for  her  purposes,  to  look 
at  that  paragon  of  cities  of  which  she  had  heard 
so  much  from  Hicks.  That  would  fail,  because 
Hicks  would  naturally  be  curious  about  the  details 
of  her  law  business,  and  there  was  no  law  business, 
nor  could  she  stop  to  invent  details.  She  might  say 
she  was  going  further  west  on  a  visit,  and  became 
suddenly  ill  on  the  train  near  Rextown,  and  stopped 
off  there  because  she  knew  Hicks  lived  there,  and 
would  help  her  in  her  distress.  That  plan,  she 
threw  aside,  because  she  didn't  care  to  go  to  the 
trouble  of  simulating  sickness. 

She  pondered  various  other  schemes.  Finally, 
the  right  one  came  to  her. 

"That's  it,"  she  said.  "That  will  do  the  busi 
ness,"  and  she  went  to  her  desk  and  wrote: 

"Mv  DEAR  HICKS: 

"I  hope  it  will  not  bore  you  if  I  ask  your  advice,  which 
I  value  highly,  on  a  matter  of  some  importance  to  me. 

"Quite  recently,  a  number  of  my  investments  have  ma 
tured  and  I  find  myself  with  a  considerable  sum  of  ready 
money  on  hand.  There  is  so  much  business  disturbance 
at  present  that  several  friends  have  advised  me  to  invest 


THE    FAKERS  293 

this  money  in  first-class  farm  mortgages,  saying  that  sort 
of  security  will  be  best  for  a  time  for  my  needs. 

"I  recall  what  you  have  so  frequently  told  me  of  the 
prosperous  farming  country  around  your  city,  and  I  won 
dered  if,  perchance,  you  could  tell  me  if  there  are  advantag 
eous  opportunities  there  for  the  investment  of  money  on  good 
farm  mortgages.  My  friends  tell  me  that  the  rate  of  inter 
est  on  western  farm  lands  is  quite  remunerative,  and  I  am 
tempted  to  look  into  the  matter  closely. 

"I  know  this  is  an  imposition  on  the  time  of  a  busy  man, 
but  if  you  can  spare  a  moment  to  inform  me  whether  you 
consider  this  form  of  investment  safe  and  profitable  and 
whether  there  are  any  opportunities  for  such  investment 
in  your  vicinity  I  shall  be  deeply  grateful.  The  sum  avail 
able  is  of  considerable  magnitude,  and  I,  of  course,  want  to 
invest  it  as  soon  as  possible,  and  at  as  remunerative  a  rate 
of  interest  as  is  consistent  with  entire  security. 

"May  I  expect  to  hear  from  you  soon?  I  trust  you  are 
in  your  usual  buoyant  health  and  that  your  business  and 
political  affairs  are  flourishing.  I  am  looking  forward  to 
the  pleasure  of  welcoming  you  here  as  a  Senator.  Shall  I 
soon  have  the  opportunity? 

"Faithfully, 

"ALYS  DE  MOUNTFORT  LESTER." 

"There,"  she  said,  as  she  addressed  and  sealed 
the  envelope.  "That  will  secure  an  invitation  for 
me  to  visit  Rextown  and  investigate  farm  loans  in 
person  or  I  have  mistaken  my  M  arm  a  duke." 


H 


CHAPTER    XXXIII 

ICKS  read  Mrs.  Lester's  letter  twice. 

"By  George,"  he  said,  "she  has 
more  money  than  I  thought  she  had. 
'The  sum  is  of  considerable  magnitude,' 
he  quoted.  I  wonder  how  much? 
Forty  or  fifty  thousand  dollars,  probably.  Maybe 
more,  for  she  must  be  pretty  rich,  judging  from  the 
way  she  dresses  and  the  people  she  knows.  If  I  get 
that  senatorship  I  surely  must  marry  her.  She'd 
make  a  great  senator's  wife.  Also  she'd  make  a 
pretty  fair  sort  of  a  non-senator's  wife,  with  all 
that  money  and  her  beauty  and  cleverness.  I  wish 

I  could  see  her  and  talk  it  over.     I  wish " 

He  stopped,  and  looked  at  the  letter  he  held 
in  his  hand.  "Why  not?"  he  asked.  "Why  not 
ask  her  to  come  out  here  and  look  at  the  farm  land 
herself?  She's  got  nothing  else  to  do,  and  then 
I  can  find  out  just  what  she's  worth,  and  she'll  never 
know  I  asked  her  to  come  for  any  other  reason 
than  to  protect  her  interests.  It's  worth  trying. 
I'll  do  it,  I'll  be  darned  if  I  don't." 

Hicks  reached  out  his  hand  to  press  the  button 
that  called  his  stenographer.  Then  he  drew  his 
hand  back.  "No,"  he  said,  "I'll  write  to  her  my 
self."  He  took  a  sheet  of  his  personal  letter  paper 
and  this  is  what  he  wrote: 

"Mv  DEAR  MRS.  LESTER: 

"Busy  as  I  may  be,  I  am  never  too  busy  to  be  of  service 
to  you  and  I  feel  highly  honored  by  the  confidence  you  have 

294 


THE    FAKERS  295 

reposed  in  me  in  asking  me  the  questions  you  do  in  your 
letter  of   recent  date. 

"I  know  of  no  place  in  this  country  where  farm  mort 
gages  are  so  desirable  an  investment  as  in  Corliss  and  the 
adjoining  counties.  The  land  is  rich  and  productive,  the 
rate  of  interest  is  eight  per  cent.,  and,  in  case  you  decide 
to  invest  here,  there  would  be  no  commissions  to  pay,  of 
course,  for  my  services  will  be  at  your  disposal  in  arranging 
the  details  of  the  loans. 

"However,  a  matter  of  this  kind  can  best  be  talked  over 
face  to  face,  and  I  would  not  allow  you  to  invest  a  dollar 
without  first  making  a  critical  examination  yourself  of  the 
property  the  mortgages  would  cover.  Of  course,  it  is  not 
businesslike  to  have  large  sums  of  money  lying  idle  in  bank, 
and  why  wouldn't  it  be  a  good  plan  for  you  to  run  out  to 
Rextown,  consult  with  me  about  the  plan,  look  at  such 
properties  as  I  may  know  about,  and  get  a  change  of  air 
at  the  same  time  ?  It  is  delightful  here  now ;  no  snow, 
fresh  pure  air  that  has  a  tang  and  a  tonic,  and  I  am  sure 
I  can  make  your  stay  agreeable. 

"Shall   I   expect  you,    and   when?     My  own   affairs   are 
prospering,   and,   politically,   there  is  every  evidence  that  I 
soon  shall  have  my  senatorial  ambition  gratified. 
"Very  sincerely  yours, 

"T.  MARMADUKE  HICKS." 

"Unless  I  miss  my  guess,"  said  Hicks  as  he 
stamped  the  envelope,  "that  letter  will  land  Mrs. 
Lester  in  Rextown  within  two  weeks,  where  I  can 
find  out  about  this  fortune  of  hers,  and  secure  a 
husband's  dower  rights  in  it  if  that  seems  advan 
tageous." 

Mrs.  Lester  thanked  Hicks  effusively  in  her  re 
ply,  said  she  thought  a  visit  to  Rextown  would 
facilitate  matters,  asked  Hicks  if  he  would  secure 
a  room  for  her  at  the  leading  hotel  on  receipt  of  a 
wire  from  her  that  she  had  started,  and  thought  she 
might  start  within  a  week. 

Three  weeks  later  Hicks  received  a  telegram  from 


296  THE    FAKERS 

her  which  read:  "Shall  arrive  on  Thursday  after 
noon,  four-forty-seven." 

Hicks  had  decided  he  could  not  allow  her  to  go 
to  the  Metropolis  Hotel,  and  had  arranged  with 
Mrs.  Hungerford  to  give  Mrs.  Lester  the  best 
available  room  at  his  boarding-house.  He  told 
Mrs.  Hungerford  that  Mrs.  Lester  was  a  very  rich 
friend  of  his,  a  widow,  who  was  seeking  investment 
in  farm  mortgages,  and  that  he  wanted  Mrs.  Hun 
gerford  to  be  extremely  nice  to  her.  He  dilated  on 
her  social  position,  and  her  beauty,  and  the  whole 
feminine  contingent  at  Mrs.  Hungerford's,  having 
learned  of  the  approaching  visit  of  this  marvelous 
woman,  was  so  excited  on  the  day  of  her  arrival 
they  talked  of  nothing  else. 

Hicks  dressed  in  his  best  and  met  the  train.  Mrs. 
Lester  stepped  out  of  her  Pullman,  clad  in  a  smart 
black  tailored  dress,  a  saucy  little  hat,  and  greeted 
Hicks  with  polite  cordiality.  She  looked  more 
beautiful  than  ever  to  Hicks,  who  hastened  to  meet 
her  with  outstretched  hands  and  many  exclamations 
of  delight. 

"Will  you  attend  to  my  trunks?"  she  asked,  offer 
ing  Hicks  several  trunk  checks. 

Hicks  hurried  away  to  the  transfer  man.  "Gee," 
he  said,  as  he  gave  that  official  seven  checks,  "she 
brought  a  few  of  her  clothes  with  her,  I  should 
say." 

She  had.  She  brought  all  of  her  clothes,  for 
Mrs.  Lester  did  not  intend  to  leave  Rextown  hur 
riedly.  She  was  there  for  quite  a  visit,  a  longer 
visit  than  Hicks  imagined. 

"I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  securing  you  a  room 
at  my  boarding-house,"  he  told  her.  "Mrs.  Hun 
gerford  conducts  a  most  quiet  and  refined  house 
and  I  thought  it  would  be  better  for  you  to  stay 
there,  in  a  home  atmosphere,  than  at  the  noisy 


THE    FAKERS  297 

Metropolis  Hotel.  Our  hotels  out  here,  you  know, 
are  not  quite  in  the  New  York  class,  and  besides," 
and  he  smiled  what  he  considered  a  most  engaging 
smile,  "I  can  sec  you  oftener  then." 

"At  your  boarding-house,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Les 
ter,  in  pretty  dismay.  "Why,  Mr.  Hicks,  I  had 
expected  to  stay  at  a  hotel.  Are  you  sure  it  will 
be  quite  convenient?" 

"Oh,  entirely,  entirely,  my  dear  Mrs.  Lester. 
You  will  find  Mrs.  Hungerford  a  most  charming 
lady,  and  she  will  give  you  every  attention." 

They  drove  to  the  boarding-house,  and  entered. 
Every  window  was  filled  with  eager  women,  staring 
at  and  commenting  on  the  new  arrival.  They 
unanimously  voted  her  a  most  stylish  person,  but 
the  one  who  said,  "She  isn't  so  young  as  she  used 
to  be,"  concretely  expressed  the  results  of  that 
feminine  analysis. 

Mrs.  Lester  met  Mrs.  Hungerford  and  some  of 
the  other  boarders,  and  asked  to  be  shown  to  her 
room,  saying  she  was  very  tired.  She  did  not  come 
down  to  supper  that  night,  pleading  a  travel  head 
ache,  and  made  no  appearance  until  noon  the  next 
day,  when  she  was  completely  refreshed,  had  re 
paired  the  ravages  of  her  journey,  and  was  the 
most  perfect  work  of  constructive  female  artifice 
the  ladies  at  Mrs.  Hungerford's  had  ever  seen. 

Hicks  called  for  her  that  afternoon,  and  drove 
her  about  Rextown.  She  said  she  wanted  to  see 
the  city  before  she  talked  of  business,  and  Hicks 
was  in  no  hurry.  She  prettily  put  business  aside  for 
several  days  thereafter,  talked  and  talked  with 
Hicks,  astonished  the  boarders  at  Mrs.  Hunger- 
ford's  with  her  various  accomplishments  and  the 
recital  of  her  eminent  social  intimacies,  and  soon 
had  that  household  at  her  feet.  Hicks  displayed  her 
on  the  streets  as  much  as  he  could.  The  local 


298  THE    FAKERS 

papers  dwelt  on  her  arrival  and  her  beauty  and 
her  standing,  and  the  women  society  reporters 
printed  her  picture  together  with  glowing  descrip 
tions  of  her  gowns.  Mrs.  Lester  loved  it.  She 
was  getting  more  attention  than  she  ever  had  had 
in  her  life. 

Each  day  she  put  off  Hicks,  who  really  knew  of 
some  advantageous  mortgages  that  might  be  se 
cured,  and  told  him  she  was  so  glad  to  be  away 
from  the  artificialities  of  society  and  among  real 
people  that  she  would  defer  business  to  the  enjoy 
ment  of  this  novel  experience.  Hicks  was  willing. 
He  neglected  his  office  entirely,  and  was  constantly  in 
her  company.  They  were  invited  to  several  houses, 
where  Mrs.  Lester  made  great  sensations  with  her 
clothes  and  her  conversation,  and  Hicks  was  very 
happy  and  determined  not  to  let  her  get  away  with 
out  a  promise  from  her  that  she  would  marry  him. 
Likewise,  she  was  determined  to  make  the  promise, 
provided  the  senatorship  came. 

Filkins  lived  on.  Mrs.  Lester  took  a  short  trip 
to  Chicago  to  see  some  Lake  Shore  Drive  friends 
she  said,  and  returned  to  the  nervous  Hicks  who 
feared  she  would  not,  although  she  left  six  trunks 
in  the  boarding-house. 

The  Legislature  adjourned.  Hicks  and  Mrs. 
Lester  had  inspected  several  farms,  and  had  talked 
of  mortgages  tentatively.  She  was  in  no  hurry. 
She  said  she  was  having  a  most  delightful  experi 
ence,  and  Hicks  was  anxious  to  have  her  stay.  Her 
manner  toward  Hicks  changed  slightly.  She  gave 
occasional  evidence  of  sentimental  regard  for  him, 
not  pronounced,  but  an  intimation  now  and  then 
that  persuaded  Hicks  he  had  gained  her  affections. 
He  talked  unceasingly  of  his  prospects,  and  eagerly 
watched  for  news  from  the  bedside  of  Senator 
Filkins. 


THE    FAKERS  299 

On  the  last  day  of  March  Governor  Dawson's 
secretary  handed  him  a  telegram,  announcing  the 
death  of  Senator  Filkins. 

"Did  you  read  it?"  asked  the  Governor. 

"Yes." 

"Filkins  is  dead." 

"Yes." 

"And  as  our  new  primary  law  does  not  go  into 
effect  until  June  first,  it  is  for  me  to  appoint  his 
successor  to  serve  until  there  is  an  election." 

"Yes." 

"Well,  make  out  a  commission  for  T.  Marmaduke 
Hicks,  of  Rextown." 

"What?"  shouted  the  secretary.  "T.  Marma 
duke  Hicks !  Why,  Governor,  you  are  not  serious. 
There  are  better  men  than  Hicks  for  the  place." 

"That  may  be  so,"  said  Dawson,  "but  I  have 
made  up  my  mind  to  name  Hicks." 

"Governor,  wait  a  minute.  Don't  be  in  a  hurry. 
Talk  it  over  with  some  of  your  friends.  Hicks 
has  no  particular  claim  on  you  that  I  know  about. 
Hold  on!  Let  me  call  in  some  of  the  boys." 

"No,"  said  Dawson,  "I  shall  not  wait.  If  I 
wait  I  won't  do  it,  and  I've  got  to  do  it.  I  have 
passed  my  word  to  him.  Besides,"  as  if  seeking 
to  excuse  himself,  "it  isn't  for  long,  and  he  can  never 
win  in  the  primaries,  for  Mulford,  and  probably 
Rollins  and  some  others  will  be  sure  to  run." 

"Governor — Governor "  pleaded  his  secre 
tary.  "Don't  be  in  a  hurry!  This  is  the  most  im 
portant  appointment  you  have  had  to  make.  Put 
it  off  until  to-morrow." 

"No,"  Dawson  replied.  "It  will  be  easier  to 
do  now  than  to-morrow,  and  I've  got  to  do  it,  or 
make  myself  a  liar.  I  passed  my  word  and  I've 
got  to  keep  it,  even  with  Hicks." 

With  his  own  hand  Dawson  wrote  this  telegram : 


300  THE    FAKERS 

"YORKVILLE,  March  31. 
"T.  MARMADUKE  HICKS, 

"Rextown. 

"I  have  this  day  appointed  you  United  States  Senator  to 
succeed  the  late  Henry  M.  Filkins  until  such  time  as  the 
legislature  shall  elect.  Your  credentials  will  follow  by 
mail. 

"PETER  R.  DAWSON,  Governor." 

Just  as  he  handed  the  telegram  to  his  personal 
messenger  and  told  him  to  file  it  at  once,  Smathers, 
the  capitol  man  of  the  Yorkville  Sun,  hurried 
brusquely  into  the  office,  brushing  aside  the  man  at 
the  door. 

"Governor,"  he  said,  "the  office  just  telephoned 
that  Senator  Filkins  is  dead." 

"So  I  am  informed." 

"And  you  will  appoint  a  successor  until  the  Legis 
lature  meets?" 

"Yes." 

"Have  you  anybody  in  mind?" 

"I  have  appointed  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  of  Rex- 
town." 

"What?"  shouted  Smathers.  "Hicks?  Do  you 
mean  that  wind-jamming  faker  who  poses  as  the 
friend  of  the  people?" 

"I  mean  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  of  Rextown,  who 
is  already  apprised  of  his  selection." 

"Well,  I'll  be  damned!"  exclaimed  Smathers. 
"Why?" 

"I  have  reasons  of  my  own,"  said  Dawson.  "Mr. 
Hicks  has  been  a  valiant  and  uncompromising  Demo 
crat  for  many  years.  He  has  remained  faithful  to 
the  party  in  times  of  stress  and  storm.  He  is 
young,  brilliant,  strong  with  the  masses,  and  will 
serve  his  State  and  his  party  well." 

"Sure!"  said  Smathers,  who  was  looking  at  the 
Governor  in  undisguised  amazement,  "and  serve 


THE    FAKERS  301 

himself  well,  too.     You'll  get  merry  hell  for  this, 
Governor." 

"Well,"  the  Governor  replied,  "it's  done.  Go 
easy  as  you  can,  Smathers.  I  had  to  do  it.  Poli 
tics  is  politics,  and  that  explains  many  things." 


CHAPTER    XXXIV 

THE  afternoon  papers  in  Rextown  put  out 
extras  announcing  the  death  of  Senator 
Filkins.  Hicks  read  the  despatch,  and 
was  writing  a  telegram  to  Governor 
Dawson,  when  a  boy  came  in  and  handed 
him  the  Governor's  message. 

The  hot  blood  mounted  to  Hicks's  face  as  he 
read  it  and  his  hand  trembled.  There  it  was,  un 
doubtedly  official.  Dawson  had  redeemed  his 
pledge.  He,  T.  Marmaduke  Flicks,  was  a  Senator 
of  the  United  States.  His  first  thought  was :  "How 
will  this  affect  Alys?"  for  Hicks  had  long  since 
ceased  calling  Mrs.  Lester  anything  but  Alys — to 
himself. 

He  saw  visions  of  that  incomparable  woman  as 
Mrs.  Senator  Hicks,  lording  it  over  society  in  Wash 
ington  while  he  led  the  Senate  on  to  great  achieve 
ments  for  the  people.  He  had  no  doubt  she  would 
be  glad  to  marry  him  now.  And  he  decided  to 
ask  her  at  once. 

The  telephone  bell  rang.  The  afternoon  papers 
had  despatches  from  Yorkville  saying  Hicks  had 
been  appointed  and  they  wanted  to  know  if  it  was 
official.  Hicks  assured  them  it  was.  The  report 
ers  came  and  he  talked  to  them  of  his  new  respon 
sibilities  and  of  what  he  intended  to  do  at  Wash 
ington,  and  of  how  his  strong  hand  would  at  once 
be  placed  on  the  helm  of  government,  and  the  ship 
of  state  steered  safely  across  the  shoals  that  were 

302 


THE    FAKERS  303 

threatening  in  such  dangerous  numbers  at  the  pres 
ent  time. 

The  papers  put  out  second  extras,  and  printed 
every  word  Hicks  had  said,  with  his  picture  and 
sketches  of  his  life.  Men  began  to  come  in,  in 
twos  and  threes.  Hicks  held  a  reception,  received 
congratulations  complacently,  and  told  all  visitors 
how  many  reforms  would  now  be  brought  about  for 
he,  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  was  a  Senator  of  the 
United  States.  He  planned  to  leave  at  once.  The 
Senate  needed  him,  he  said,  and  Filkins's  seat  had 
long  been  vacant  because  of  his  illness. 

Just  as  he  was  preparing  to  go  home — he  waited 
until  the  six-o'clock  crowds  would  be  on  the  streets 
so  he  might  make  a  triumphal  progress — Rollins 
entered. 

"My  dear  old  friend,"  gushed  Hicks,  "I  had 
longed  for  your  coming.  With  your  congratulations 
my  happiness  will  be  complete." 

"You'll  get  no  congratulations  from  me,  Hicks," 
said  Rollins  coldly.  "I  did  not  come  to  congratulate 
you.  I  came  to  notify  you  that  I  have  suspected 
ever  since  last  September  you  were  a  traitor  to 
Mulford  and  to  me  at  the  convention,  and  now  I 
know  it.  This  appointment  is  the  price  of  your 
treachery.  I  didn't  think  Peter  Dawson  would 
stoop  to  so  despicable  a  thing  as  this.  You  be 
trayed  me,  Hicks,  and  you  betrayed  Mulford.  This 
is  your  thirty  pieces  of  silver." 

"Why,  Rollins!"  Hicks  exclaimed,  "what  has 
come  over  you,  my  dear,  old,  faithful  friend?  You 
are  joking." 

"I  am  not  joking.  I  never  was  more  earnest  in 
my  life." 

Hicks  turned  on  Rollins.  His  face  was  red.  His 
voice  wras  harsh.  "Rollins,"  he  said,  "you  can't 
come  here  and  talk  to  me  in  this  way.  And  you 


304  THE    FAKERS 

can't  frighten  me  with  your  cheap  threats.  More 
than  that,  Rollins,  from  this  minute  I  am  the  leader 
of  the  Democrats  in  this  county,  and  I  shall  soon 
be  the  leader  of  the  Democrats  in  the  State.  I  am 
a  United  States  Senator.  Remember  that.  I  have 
the  power.  I  shall  use  it,  too." 

Rollins  looked  calmly  at  Hicks  for  a  moment. 

"I  am  not  the  sort  to  indulge  in  heroics,  Hicks," 
he  said,  "and  I  haven't  anything  more  to  say.  You 
were  a  traitor.  You  have  just  been  paid.  I'll  prove 
it  and,  by  God,  when  I  do  prove  it  I'll  drive  you 
out  of  the  State.  Remember  that." 

Hicks  was  excited.  He  waited  for  ten  minutes 
to  collect  himself,  and  then  made  his  appearance 
on  the  streets.  Men  rushed  to  shake  hands  with 
him.  People  pointed  him  out  as  the  new  Senator. 
He  passed  graciously  along  to  the  boarding-house, 
and  there  was  received  with  wild  acclaim.  Mrs. 
Lester,  he  observed,  was  not  in  the  parlor. 

She  came  in  later,  marvelously  gowned.  She 
greeted  Hicks,  with  pretty  sincerity,  and  said  she 
had  no  doubt  he  would  make  a  great  Senator. 
Hicks  acknowledged  her  congratulations  flamboy 
antly  and  they  went  to  dinner. 

Hicks  paraded  about  the  city  that  night,  offering 
himself  for  congratulations  wherever  he  found  any 
body  to  congratulate  him.  He  visited  the  office  of 
the  Chronicle,  and  added  some  complimentary 
phrases  to  that  paper's  editorial  estimate  of  his 
capacities  for  the  Senatorship,  revised  the  glow 
ing  sketch  of  his  life,  and  achievements,  and  went 
to  the  boarding-house. 

It  was  midnight,  but  there  was  a  light  in  the 
parlor.  He  entered,  hung  his  hat  in  the  hall,  and 
looked  in  as  he  passed  the  parlor  door.  Mrs. 
Lester  was  there.  His  heart  bounded.  She  was 
waiting  for  him.  He  looked  again,  and  was  en- 


THE    FAKERS  305 

raptured  by  the  picture.  She  had  been  reading,  but 
her  book  lay  open  on  her  lap,  and  she  seemed  lost 
in  thought.  Her  elaborately  coiffured  head  rested 
gracefully  on  a  graceful  hand.  Apparently  she  had 
not  heard  him.  He  gazed  at  her.  She  was  the 
one  woman  to  be  the  wife  of  United  States  Senator 
T.  Marmaduke  Hicks. 

He  stepped  in  the  door,  stretched  out  his  arms, 
put  all  the  fervor  in  his  voice  he  used  when  plead 
ing  the  cause  of  the  people,  and  cried: 

"Alys!     Alys!" 

She  started,  looked  up  at  him,  blushed  and  said: 
"Why,  Marmaduke,  how  you  startled  me!'" 

Marmaduke  !  It  was  the  first  time  she  had  called 
him  that.  Made  bold  by  her  action  he  rushed 
across  the  room  and  knelt  at  her  feet. 

"Alys!  Alys!"  he  said,  trying  to  get  a  throb 
into  his  voice,  "Alys,  my  queen!"  For  months  and 
months  I  have  worshiped  you,  adored  you.  Now 
I  can  come  to  you  with  a  position  worthy  of  you. 
Now  I  can  offer  you  a  place  among  the  elect  of  the 
nation.  Alys,  I  am  a  Senator — a  Senator  of  the 
United  States.  I  can  take  you  to  Washington  and 
establish  you  in  the  highest  places,  where  you  are 
so  well  fitted  to  hold  queenly  sway.  I  shall  win  in 
the  primaries.  I  shall  be  one  of  the  great  states 
men  of  the  nation.  The  whole,  boundless  future 
is  ours.  Together,  hand  in  hand,  wre  can  climb  to 
lofty  pinnacles.  I  will  take  you  to  the  White  House 
and  I  will  make  you  the  first  lady  of  the  land,  if 
you  will  marry  me." 

He  paused  overcome  by  the  emotion  of  his  own 
performance.  During  his  plea  Mrs.  Lester  had 
remained  sitting,  looking  down  at  him,  as  tender  a 
smile  as  she  could  manage  on  her  lips,  but  a  cold 
hard  light  in  her  eyes. 

"Marmaduke,"  she  said,  softly,  "I  have  admired 


306  THE    FAKERS 

you  and  I  have  learned  to  love  you.  I  shall  be  glad 
to  return  to  Washington  with  you." 

"Then  you  will  marry  me?" 

"Yes,  I  will  marry  you,"  and  she  bent  over  and 
kissed  him,  full  on  the  lips. 

They  talked  for  a  long  time,  making  plans. 
Hicks  was  for  an  immediate  wedding,  and  she  con 
sented,  hesitatingly,  for  she  said  she  would  like  to 
have  a  little  time  for  preparation,  and  would  dearly 
love  a  wedding  befitting  Hicks's  station.  Hicks 
would  like  that,  too,  but  he  was  anxious  to  get  to 
Washington,  anxious  to  embark  on  his  work  of  re 
forming  the  government,  and  he  wanted  to  take  her 
with  him.  So  they  decided  to  be  married  im 
mediately. 

It  was  almost  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  when 
they  parted.  He  went  to  the  foot  of  the  stairs 
with  her,  and  kissed  her  many  times.  As  she 
"finally  released  herself  from  his  embrace  and  started 
to  go  upstairs  she  turned  and  said:  "Oh,  Marma- 
duke — dear  Marmaduke  !" 

"My  love!" 

"You  are  sure  you  can  be  elected  when  the  Legis 
lature  meets,  aren't  you,  dear?" 

"Certain  of  it,  my  sweetheart.  I  shall  be  Senator 
for  many  years,  until  I  take  you  to  the  White  House 
as  the  wife  of  the  President." 

Somehow,  as  Hicks  thought  the  events  of  the 
night  over,  in  his  room,  that  last  question  of  his 
fiancee's  rather  jarred. 

Hicks  told  Mrs.  Hungerford  early  next  morning 
he  intended  to  marry  Mrs.  Lester. 

"Oh,  Senator!"  cried  Mrs.  Hungerford.  "Where? 
When?" 

Hicks  hadn't  thought  of  those  details. 

"Please,  Senator,  please  have  the  wedding  here," 
pleaded  Mrs.  Hungerford.  "It  will  be  such  an 


THE    FAKERS  307 

advertisement  for  my  house — a  United  States  Sen 
ator  getting  married  in  my  parlors!  Please,  oh, 
please  do !  I  have  been  very  kind  to  you.  There 
is  no  other  place  for  you  to  go  unless  you  go  to 
a  minister's  house  if  you  are  going  to  be  married 
at  once.  Please !" 

Hicks  was  impressed.  He  felt  he  must  be  mar 
ried  and  on  his  way  to  Washington  within  a  week, 
and  he  had  no  home  except  the  boarding-house  where 
he  lived  so  long,  nor  had  Mrs.  Lester.  He  said 
he  would  consult  with  his  fiancee  about  the  matter 
— he  constantly  referred  to  Mrs.  Lester  as  "my 
flan-say" — but  he  moved  to  the  Metropolis  Hotel 
and  took  a  big  suite  on  the  second  floor,  announcing 
his  place  of  residence  in  the  papers  and  inviting  the 
people  to  call  on  him  and  make  known  their  wants, 
in  order  that  he  might  go  earnestly  at  work  as  soon 
as  he  took  his  seat — "donned  his  toga,"  Hicks  said 
—and  relieve  their  necessities  in  the  way  of  help 
ful  legislation.  He  explained,  carefully,  this  shift 
from  the  boarding-house  was  not  ostentation.  It 
was  merely  due  to  his  position  and  to  give  the 
people  a  chance  to  call  on  him. 

The  Dawson  newspapers  made  the  best  they  could 
of  the  appointment,  and  the  opposition  papers  ridi 
culed  it.  Almost  every  paragrapher  in  the  State 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  date  of  the 
appointment  was  March  thirty-first  and  said  the 
Governor  certainly  had  played  an  April  Fool  joke 
on  the  Commonwealth,  Hicks  set  this  ridicule 
down  to  the  venom  of  the  capitalistic  and  suborned 
press,  and  prepared  a  long  defense  of  Dawson  and 
a  long  exaltation  of  himself  for  publication  in  the 
Chronicle. 

He  made  arrangements  for  the  continuance  of 
such  law  work  as  he  had  on  hand,  and  saw  to  it 
that  the  papers,  and  the  correspondents,  had  full 


308  THE    FAKERS 

particulars  of  his  forthcoming  marriage.  He  was 
expert  at  publicity  about  himself  and  he  dictated 
an  article  for  use  in  the  out-of-town  papers  advising 
Washington  of  the  imminent  arrival  of  T.  Marma- 
duke  Hicks,  who  would  be  not  only  one  of  the 
youngest  Senators  who  ever  sat  in  that  distinguished 
body — Hicks  was  much  chagrined  to  find  he  wouldn't 
be  the  youngest — but  who  would  bring  a  beautiful 
and  accomplished  bride  with  him.  He  said  nothing 
about  his  previous  work  and  experience. 

He  foresaw  with  much  satisfaction  that  his  ap 
pearance  as  a  Senator  and  as  a  bridegroom  would 
attach  a  new  value  to  him,  and  he  urged  Mrs. 
Lester  to  have  some  new  pictures  taken,  which  she 
did,  with  a  special  rush  order  to  the  photographers. 
As  for  himself,  he  went  to  a  photograph  gallery  and 
posed  twenty  different  ways,  ranging  from  an  atti 
tude  of  deep  study  of  pressing  problems,  at  a  desk, 
leaning  on  his  hand,  with  one  finger  disposed  along 
his  cheek,  to  a  pose  with  his  arms  outstretched,  as 
if  he  were  delivering  an  impassioned  speech  in  de 
fense  of  rule  by  the  people.  The  photographer  had 
a  papier  mache  property  in  his  gallery  that  looked 
like  the  end  of  a  train.  Hicks  had  several  pictures 
taken  with  this,  in  various  poses,  and  one  with  him 
self  and  Mrs.  Lester  together.  These  pictures  were 
hurriedly  finished  and  handed  to  the  Rextown 
papers,  labeled:  "Senator  Hicks  and  his  bride 
leaving  Rextown  for  Washington." 

He  took  large  numbers  of  pictures  with  him,  in 
order  that  the  demand  from  the  magazine  and 
newspaper  people  in  Washington  might  be  supplied, 
and  so  did  Mrs.  Lester.  He  kept  his  stenographer 
working  nights  preparing  literature  about  himself, 
his  life,  his  achievements,  his  bride,  her  old  and  no 
ble  lineage,  her  culture,  her  beauty,  and  bore  down 


THE    FAKERS  309 

heavily  on  the  statement  that  she  was  young  and 
looked  like  a  girl  in  her  teens. 

Hicks  talked  with  Mrs.  Lester  about  her  pro 
posed  mortgage  investments.  She  said  there  was 
no  hurry,  for  now  that  they  were  to  be  married  their 
home  interests  would  be  in  Rextown,  and  they  could 
wait  until  they  returned  and  then  take  up  the  mat 
ter  if  it  seemed  the  thing  to  do.  Also,  she  gave 
Hicks  the  impression  that  in  her  new  estate  she 
wouldn't  be  so  eager  as  she  was  as  a  widow  to  get 
this  portion  of  her  fortune  invested.  She  hinted 
that  it  might  as  well  remain  in  bank  for  a  time,  sub 
ject  to  her  check.  This  coincided  exactly  with  the 
views  of  Hicks,  who  knew  that  money  placed  in 
mortgages  is  not  easily  converted  into  cash  until  the 
mortgages  expire.  He  did  not  press  the  matter,  and 
he  thought,  but  did  not  say,  that  the  more  money 
Mrs.  Lester  had  in  bank  where  it  could  be  obtained 
easily  the  better  he  would  be  pleased. 

They  were  married  at  Mrs.  Hungerford's,  which 
had  seemed  best  to  Mrs.  Lester,  although  she  had 
an  idea  it  might  be  well  to  have  the  ceremony  at 
the  pastor's  house  and  hold  a  reception  at  the  Me 
tropolis  Hotel.  That  wasn't  feasible,  after  she 
had  thought  it  all  over,  and  when  Hicks  suggested 
it,  desiring  to  make  a  splash  himself,  she  told  him, 
sweetly,  it  made  no  difference  where  they  were  mar 
ried,  she  loved  him  so  much,  and  they  could  come 
back  and  have  a  reception  later  in  the  year,  for 
which  adequate  preparations  could  be  made.  Mrs. 
Hungerford  had  a  wedding  breakfast,  at  which 
Hicks  made  a  speech,  congratulating  himself  and 
Rextown,  the  state  and  the  nation  on  the  auspicious 
event. 

They  left  on  the  two  o'clock  train.  The  affair 
had  been  so  well  advertised  there  was  a  crowd  of 
sightseers  at  the  station,  and  Hicks  and  his  blush- 


gio  THE    FAKERS 

ing  bride  stood  on  the  rear  end  of  the  train,  she 
clinging  to  his  arm  and  he  bowing  and  waving  his 
hat,  until  the  town  was  left  far  behind. 

On  the  morning  of  his  wedding  day  Hicks  an 
nounced  in  the  Chronicle,  in  a  carefully  prepared 
statement,  he  was  henceforth  to  be  considered  the 
Democratic  leader  of  that  section,  and  that  he 
would  take  even  a  more  active  part  in  state  affairs 
than  he  had.  He  intimated  his  new  position  put 
him  in  such  a  place  of  power  that  he  had  no  doubt 
the  Democracy  would  flock  to  him  as  their  leader. 
He  praised  every  act  of  the  Dawson  state  admin 
istration,  but  intimated  that  Hicks  would  be  potent 
in  national  affairs,  and  he  promised  the  Democracy 
to  be  faithful  to  this  great  and  unexpected,  al 
though  worthily  bestowed,  honor  that  had  come  to 
him.  He  considered  the  advisability  of  announcing 
his  candidacy  to  succeed  himself,  but  decided  to  say 
nothing  about  it,  and  await  the  outcome  of  what 
Rollins  might  do.  Besides,  he  felt  he  might  pre 
cipitate  a  warfare  on  himself,  and  he  considered  it 
to  be  the  better  politics  to  hold  off  on  that  point. 
He  was  a  candidate  to  succeed  himself,  of  course, 
and  had  no  idea  of  failure  of  election. 


CHAPTER   XXXV 

THERE  had  been  despatches  in  the  Wash 
ington  papers  about  Hicks,  his  marriage, 
and  he  had  sent  on  pictures  of  both  of 
them,    with   typewritten    life    stories    of 
each.       The    Washington    papers     had 
printed  not  only  portions  of  the  highly  eulogistic 
articles   sent  in  by  Hicks,  but  had  reprinted  some 
of  the  comment  from  the  opposition  papers.    Hicks 
and  his  bride  were  well  advertised  when  they  ar 
rived,  and  he  was  extremely  gratified  to  find  a  little 
knot  of  idlers  at  the  station  as  they  came  through 
the  gates.    The  local  papers  had  sent  snapshot  men, 
and  Hicks  and  Mrs.  Hicks  posed  for  them.     The 
idlers    and    curiosity-seekers    applauded    them    and 
Hicks  made  a  brief  speech,  while  his  bride  stood 
radiantly   beside   him,    for   she   loved   applause    as 
much  as  he  did. 

The  correspondents  for  the  papers  in  Hicks's 
home  state  were  there.  They  sent  back  chaffing  dis 
patches  about  his  arrival.  The  story  got  around 
on  Newspaper  Row,  and  one  or  two  of  the  New 
York  papers  carried  a  paragraph  or  two  about  this 
new  world-maker  who  had  come  out  of  the  West. 
The  Washington  papers  were  sedate  about  it.  They 
told  the  story,  and  let  it  go  at  that.  Washington 
papers  rarely  josh  statesmen,  for  reasons  of  their 
own  not  connected  with  the  fact  that  Congress  legis 
lates  for  Washington  and  establishes  the  tax  rate. 

311 


3i2  THE    FAKERS 

The  hotel  question  had  been  settled  rather  de 
cisively  on  the  train. 

"I  suppose,"  Hicks  had  said  to  his  wife,  after 
they  were  comfortably  in  the  drawing-room  she  in 
sisted  upon  when  Hicks  had  proposed  a  section,  "I 
suppose  it  wouldn't  do  to  go  to  Mrs.  Lake's?" 

"Certainly  not,"  Mrs.  Hicks  replied. 

"Well,  then,  my  dear,  where  shall  we  go?  You 
know  about  the  Washington  hotels  better  than  I  do." 

"I  prefer  the  Palace." 

"The  Palace — but,  my  dear — the  Palace  is " 

"I  prefer  the  Palace,"  she  repeated,  with  an  air 
of  finality  that  warned  Hicks  there  was  to  be  no 
further  discussion  of  the  matter;  and,  after  the  re 
ception  at  the  station,  they  went  to  the  Palace. 

Mrs.  Hicks  accompanied  Hicks  to  the  desk  and 
stood  beside  him  as  he  registered:  "Hon.  T.  Mar- 
maduke  Hicks,  and  wife,  Rextown." 

"What  will  you  require,  Mr.  Hicks?"  asked  the 
clerk. 

Mrs.  Hicks  replied:  "A  suite — two  bedrooms, 
parlor  and  bath,"  she  said  calmly. 

Hicks  gasped.  That  meant  at  least  twenty  dol 
lars  a  day  without  meals. 

"My  dear '  he  began. 

"I  should  like  to  examine  several  suites,"  inter 
rupted  Mrs.  Hicks,  speaking  to  the  clerk,  but  look 
ing  steadily  at  her  husband.  "We  shall  be  here 
for  some  time." 

She  selected  one  on  the  fifth  floor,  and  soon  was 
ordering  bellboys,  porters,  maids  and  housekeeper 
about  as  if  she  owned  the  hotel.  Hicks  sat  gloom 
ily  in  the  parlor.  There  seemed  nothing  for  him 
to  say,  and  he  said  nothing.  Finally,  he  telephoned 
up  to  the  Capitol  and  asked  for  Senator  Paxton. 
That  statesman  was  in  New  York,  Madden  told 


THE    FAKERS  313 

him,  after  he  had  congratulated,  but  would  be  back 
in  the  morning. 

Mrs.  Hicks  dressed  for  dinner  with  elaborate 
care.  She  thought  Hicks  should  wear  his  evening 
clothes,  but  Hicks  protested  he  couldn't  afford  to. 
He  said  he  was  a  new  Senator,  the  friend  and 
tribune  of  the  people,  and  he  must  not  begin  throw 
ing  on  undemocratic  style  as  soon  as  he  landed  in 
the  city.  He  told  Mrs.  Hicks  they  would  have  to 
move  to  a  plainer  place.  She  smiled  and  said  noth 
ing.  She  did  not  press  the  evening  clothes  matter, 
and  Hicks  compromised  by  putting  on  his  long  coat. 
She  was  radiant  when  she  went  to  dinner,  and  at 
tracted  much  attention. 

They  sat  about  the  long  corridor  where  others 
were  sitting,  paraded  back  and  forth  a  few  times, 
and  were  universally  observed.  The  hotel  people 
passed  the  word  this  was  Senator  Hicks  and  his 
bride,  and  some  of  the  women  and  many  of  the 
men  introduced  themselves.  Mrs.  Hicks  was  charm 
ing.  She  let  it  be  known  she  was  no  stranger  in 
Washington,  that  her  former  husband  had  held  a 
"diplomatic"  post,  and  inasmuch  as  Hicks  had 
spread  himself  in  his  information  to  the  press  on 
:er  high  family  connections,  especially  on  the  de 
lountfort  end,  and  some  of  this  had  been  printed, 
he  had  little  difficulty  in  making  the  desired  im- 
rcssion.  Hicks's  colleague,  Senator  Jackson,  a  Re- 
•'iiMican  of  the  old  school,  who  had  been  in  the 
!.  rnnte  for  years,  called  to  pay  his  respects  and  to 
make  arrangements  about  the  swearing  in  of  Hicks. 
He  was  extremely  polite  and  cordial. 

Senator  Jackson  presented  Hicks's  credentials, 
which  were  found  to  be  in  order,  and  in  due  time 
Hicks  was  sworn  in.  He  was  escorted  to  the  Vice- 
President's  desk  in  the  Senate  chamber  by  Senator 
Jackson,  who  stood  gravely  by  while  Hicks  took  the 


3i4  THE    FAKERS 

oath,  which  was  administered  by  the  Vice-President. 
Mrs.  Hicks  was  in  the  gallery,  most  becomingly  at 
tired,  and  Hicks,  who  had  been  shown  the  seat  as 
signed  to  him,  which  was  in  the  rear  row  on  the 
Democratic  side,  went  back  and  sat  down.  He  wore 
his  long  coat,  had  spent  half  an  hour  polishing  his 
hair,  his  flowing  tie  flowed  over  his  heaving  bosom, 
and  he  was  a  proud  and  a  happy  man.  He  felt  a 
certain  sense  of  injury,  however,  inasmuch  as  his 
swearing  in  had  created  no  consternation  in  the  Sen 
ate  chamber,  and  had  been  absolutely  devoid  of  fea 
tures  useful  for  advertising  purposes. 

Most  of  the  Democratic  Senators  and  a  few  of 
the  Republicans  came  over  and  shook  hands  with 
him,  Senator  Jackson  making  the  introductions. 
Hicks  was  glad  to  learn  none  of  them  remembered 
him,  and  was  relieved  to  find  that  Senator  Paxton 
was  not  among  their  number.  Paxton  did  not  ar 
rive  at  the  Senate  until  about  two  o'clock.  He  came 
straight  to  Hicks's  seat. 

"Welcome  to  our  midst,  Tommie,"  he  said.  "I 
didn't  think  you  could  put  it  over  so  soon." 

"The  people,"  Hicks  replied,  "are  mighty  and 
must  prevail." 

"Well,  they  haven't  had  much  to  say  about  it 
in  this  instance,  but  that  will  come  later,  I  assume. 
Come  down  to  the  old  room.  I  want  to  have  a  talk 
with  you." 

"All  right,"  said  Hicks,  "but  I  have  a  little  writ 
ing  to  do.  Can  I  use  your  stenographer?  I  haven't 
been  assigned  to  a  room  yet." 

"Certainly  you  can,"  Paxton  answered.  "Come 
along." 

They  reached  the  room  where  Hicks  had  for 
merly  worked.  "I'll  be  in  presently,"  said  Hicks, 
"I  want  to  get  this  despatch  off  early." 

"Despatch?"  asked  Paxton.    "What  despatch?" 


THE    FAKERS  315 

"Why,  Senator,  you  don't  think  I  intend  to  al 
low  the  good  people  of  Rextown  to  be  uninformed 
of  the  full  details  of  the  ceremony  of  my  swearing 
in,  do  you?  I  am  astonished." 

"Of  course,"  chuckled  Paxton.  "I  hadn't  thought 
of  that.  Go  ahead  and  I'll  wait  for  you." 

Hicks  dictated  a  long  and  glowing  account  of  his 
swearing  in.  He  described  the  crowded  and  enthu 
siastic  galleries;  the  loud  applause  that  greeted  him 
as  he  walked  down  the  center  aisle  leaning  on  the 
arm  of  Senator  Jackson;  the  impressiveness  with 
which  the  Vice-President  administered  the  oath;  his 
own  feeling  of  consecration  as  he  took  it;  the  hope 
for  the  people  that  lay  in  the  event,  which  was  full 
of  significance  for  the  toiling  masses,  and  closed  with 
a  tribute  to  the  grace  and  beauty  of  Mrs.  Hicks, 
who  was  the  most  admired  of  all  the  flower  of 
Washington  society  filling  the  galleries  on  this  mo 
mentous  occasion.  He  told  the  stenographer  to  send 
this  to  the  Rextown  Chronicle,  and  then  went  into 
Senator  Paxton's  private  office. 

Paxton  looked  admiringly  at  the  young  man  who 
stood  before  him,  and  recalled  his  first  meeting  with 
him,  his  interest  in  him,  his  satiric  suggestion  to 
him  that  he  go  out  and  play  the  friend-of-the-people 
game  and  its  amazing  result. 

"Tommie,"  he  said,  "you  are  a  peach." 

"Also,"  Hicks  replied,  "I  am  a  United  States 
Senator." 

"The  terms  are  synonymous — a  peach  of  a 
United  States  Senator.  Now  that  you  have  landed, 
what  is  on  your  mind?" 

"Nothing,  except  to  stay  landed.  I've  got  to  keep 
in  the  limelight  here  in  order  to  have  a  chance  in 
the  primaries.  You  watch  my  curves,  Senator.  I 
am  going  to  pull  off  some  things  around  here  that 
will  make  them  all  take  notice." 


3i6  THE    FAKERS 

"For  example?" 

"Well,  I  have  heard  that  it  is  the  custom — ab 
surd,  of  course — for  new  Senators  to  remain  silent 
for  a  time." 

"Ordinarily  that  is  true,"  Paxton  replied,  his  eye 
twinkling,  "but  not  in  an  exceptional  case  like  yours. 
It  would  be  a  positive  injury  to  the  cause  of  the 
people  if  you  sat  supinely  in  your  seat  when  there 
is  so  much  you  can  say — so  very  much." 

"That  is  the  way  it  appears  to  me.  I  shall  make 
my  first  set  speech  within  a  few  days;  as  soon  as  I 
can  get  the  advance  notices  properly  distributed." 

"Right,"  commented  Paxton  gravely.  "Give  no 
tice  that  on  a  certain  day — this  is  Tuesday — on  Fri 
day  next,  say,  you  will  submit  some  remarks  to  the 
Senate  after  the  conclusion  of  the  business  of  the 
morning  hour." 

"And  then?" 

"Then  get  up  and  let  her  rip.     Once  you  get  the 
floor  you  can  hold  it  indefinitely — just  as  long  as 
you  can  talk." 
-   ."I  can  talk  for  quite  a  period." 

"Well,  go  as  far  as  you  like.  What  will  your 
topic  be?" 

"The  rights  of  the  people,  the  down-trodden,  op 
pressed  people." 

"I  had  suspected  as  much.  Let's  have  a  rehearsal. 
I  want  you  to  get  away  to  a  running  start.  Would 
you  object  to  telling  me  what  you  intend  to  say, 
Senator?" 

Paxton  emphasized  the  "Senator."  Hicks 
laughed. 

"No,  Senator,"  he  replied.  "I  may  as  well  be 
gin  the  work  of  enlightening  you  now  as  later.  You 
understand,  of  course,  that  I  am  determined  to  bring 
the  light  to  you,  as  an  unregenerate  reactionary,  as 
well  as  to  your  associates  in  the  Senate?" 


THE    FAKERS  317 

''That,   I  take  it,  is  your  mission.     Go  ahead." 

Hicks  rose  and  assumed  his  best  oratorical  man 
ner.  Paxton  settled  himself  in  his  chair,  and  lis 
tened  gravely. 

"1  shall  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate,"  began 
Hicks  sonorously,  "to  the  distressing  situation  that 
exists  wherein  the  dominant  party  in  our  Govern 
ment,  represented  by  yourself,  has  fastened  on  the 
people  and  is  slowly  crushing  them  to  despair  and 
death  because  of  its  wicked  and  corrupt  alliance 
with  the  special  interests.  I  shall  point  out  the  many 
phases  of  this  corruption.  I  shall  make  it  clear  that 
the  hope  of  the  people  lies,  not  alone  in  the  tri 
umph  of  the  Democratic  party  but  in  the  triumph 
of  such  Democrats  as  myself.  I  shall  hold  myself 
to  be  the  true  representative  of  all  that  is  best  in 
the  extension  of  popular  rule  and  shall  disavow,  for 
all  time,  any  possible  alliances  with  the  forces  of 
darkness  which  are  operating  here  and  which  have 
strangled  the  Republican  party  and  made  it  subser 
vient  to  their  malicious  and  malignant  purposes." 

"Fine  !"  applauded  Paxton,  as  Hicks  paused.  "Go 
ahead." 

"I  shall  attack  in  unmeasured  terms  the  money 
devil,  the  iniquities  of  Wall  Street,  the  hoarding 
of  gold  by  the  vested  interests  to  crush  the  poor 
farmer  and  laboring  man  and  deprive  him  of  his 
enjoyment  of  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happi 
ness.  I  shall  hold  up,  undaunted  and  unafraid,  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  so  that  all  men  shall  see  its 
hideous  machinations.  I  shall  denounce  the  crimi 
nal  rich.  I  shall  expose  to  public  scorn  those  pluto 
crats  who  are  fattening  on  the  body  politic.  I  shall 
mention  by  name  many  of  our  millionaires,  and  show 
how  impossible  it  is  for  them  to  have  obtained  their 
money  honestly.  I  shall  denounce  trusts,  corpo 
rations,  illegal  combinations  for  sapping  the  life- 


3i8  THE    FAKERS 

blood  of  the  farmer  and  the  workingman.  I  shall 
paint  in  darkest  colors  the  greed  and  corruption  of 
the  men  who  now  control  our  governmental  des 
tinies. 

"I  shall  demand  the  release  of  the  control  of  our 
Treasury  by  the  gamblers  in  Wall  Street,  and  the 
extension  of  our  governmental  credit  so  every  man 
may  have  an  opportunity  with  every  other  man  to 
amass  a  competence.  I  shall  demand  more  money, 
the  fullest  extension  of  popular  government,  the  abo 
lition  of  special  privileges,  the  curbing  of  trusts  and 
corporations,  and  tell  the  Senate  the  actual  facts 
about  the  distressed  condition  of  the  poor,  but  hon 
est,  people  who  are  held  in  darkness  by  these  crimi 
nal  combinations  working  in  concert  with  the  corrupt 
Republican  party." 

"Three  cheers!"  shouted  Paxton. 

"I  shall  bring  tears  to  the  eyes  of  even  the  most 
stolid  of  the  Senators  when  I  paint  the  woes  and 
distresses  of  the  great,  uncomplaining  common  peo 
ple,  whose  champion  I  am;  shall  inveigh  against  the 
follies  and  extravagances  of  the  day;  shall  attack 
the  idle  rich,  and  their  palaces  and  their  unearned 
increment;  shall  call  John  D.  Rockefeller  and  others 
by  name  and  hold  them  up  to  the  execration  of  all 
honest  men;  shall  explain  my  own  honesty  of  pur 
pose  and  purity  of  motive,  and  shall  offer  to  lead 
the  Senate  to  a  day  of  better  things;  shall  ask  the 
Senate  to  turn  its  face  toward  the  morning,  drive 
the  money-changers  from  the  temple,  release  us,  the 
common  people  from  the  bondage  that  enslaves  us, 
release  us  from  the  fell  clutches  of  the  Money  De 
mon,  and  give  us  the  right  to  live,  to  rear  our  chil 
dren  and  enjoy  the  advantages  of  our  country,  so 
liberally  bestowed  on  us  by  a  munificent  Nature  and 
so  greedily  usurped  by  cunning  and  unscrupulous  and 
criminal  millionaires." 


THE    FAKERS  319 

"Bully!"  said  Paxton,  clapping  his  hands.  "Bully. 
That's  the  stuff.  I  hope  you  will  not  long  delay  call 
ing  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  these  pressing  mat 
ters." 

"It  shall  be  done  forthwith,"  said  Hicks. 

Paxton  roared  with  laughter. 

"Lordy,  Lordy,"  he  said,  "and  I  was  conceited 
enough  to  think  I  could  give  you  some  points  on  the 
friend-of-the-people  game." 


CHAPTER   XXXVI 

THAT  afternoon,  when  Hicks  returned  to 
the  Palace  Hotel,  Mrs.  Hicks,  who  had 
spent  the  greater  part  of  the  day  over  her 
wardrobe,  and  on  her  complexion,  greeted 
him  effusively. 

"Sit  down,  Marmaduke,"  she  said,  "and  let's  have 
a  chat.  You  know,  of  course,  dear,  I  must  have 
some  new  gowns." 

"Some  new  gowns!"  exclaimed  Hicks.  "Why, 
Alys,  haven't  you  gowns  enough?" 

"Oh,  my,  no!  My  position  here  demands  a  re 
plenishment  of  my  wardrobe  that  must  be  made  at 
once.  It  is  imperative.  My  round  of  social  duties 
will  soon  begin,  and  I  haven't  a  thing  fit  to  wear.  I 
am  your  wife,  you  know,  Marmaduke,  and  I  must 
maintain  your  position.  I  must  help  you." 

Hicks  was  uneasy,  but  he  tried  to  seem  compla 
cent. 

"Well,"  he  said,  "I  suppose  you  know  best,  my 
dear.  There  are  undoubtedly  good  dressmakers  in 
Washington." 

"In  Washington!"  Mrs.  Hicks  raised  her  elabo 
rate  eyebrows.  "Oh,  la  la !  I  shall  go  to  New  York 
for  my  gowns." 

"Go  to  New  York?"  repeated  Hicks  in  amaze 
ment.  "What's  the  matter  with  Washington,  I'd 
like  to  know?" 

"The  question  isn't  open  to  argument,  Marma- 
rduke,  dear,"  she  said  sweetly.  "I  have  always  se- 

320 


THE    FAKERS  321 

cured  my  gowns  in  New  York  or  in  Paris — and  now 
that  I  have  need  of  especially  handsome  ones  I  shall 
not  even  consider  the  work  of  these  provincial 
Washington  modistes." 

"When  are  you  going?"  asked  Hicks  nervously. 

"To-morrow  afternoon." 

"To-morrow  afternoon!  Why,  Alys,  I  intend  to 
make  my  first  speech  in  the  Senate  on  Friday,  and 
I  want  you  to  hear  it." 

"Oh,"  she  answered  lightly,  "you  will  be  making 
plenty  of  speeches  during  the  years  we  are  to  be  here, 
and  I  can  applaud  those.  This  is  most  impor 
tant.'; 

Hicks  was  stunned.  His  wife  placed  gowns  above 
his  first  speech  in  the  Senate. 

"Better  wait  until  next  week,"  he  urged. 

"Impossible !  The  season  is  waning,  and  I  want 
to  take  my  rightful  place  as  soon  as  possible.  It's 
all  for  you,"  she  added,  smiling  radiantly  at  him. 

Hicks  tried  again  to  induce  her  to  change  her 
mind,  but  she  was  obdurate.  "Very  well,"  he  said 
finally,  "I  must  confess  I  do  not  place  the  impor 
tance  on  this  you  do,  but,  probably,  you  know  best," 
and  he  continued,  trying  to  be  sentimental,  "you  will 
return  to  me  as  soon  as  you  can,  won't  you,  darling? 
I  shall  miss  you  dreadfully." 

"Why,  Marmaduke,  of  course  I  shall.  Will  you 
see  about  my  ticket  and  a  stateroom  on  the  four 
o'clock  train?" 

"A  stateroom — your  tickets?"  repeated  Hicks 
dully. 

"Certainly,  and  I  shall  require  some  money,  say 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  my  expenses. 
Please  have  that  ready  for  me  to-morrow.  Now 
excuse  me,  won't  you  dearest?  I  must  get  ready 
for  dinner." 

She  bent  over,  touched  his  cheek  with  her  lips  and 


322  THE    FAKERS 

went  into  her  bedroom,  closing  the  door  behind 
her. 

Hicks  was  astonished.  It  flashed  over  him  that, 
perhaps,  there  was  an  angle  to  matrimony  on  which 
he  had  not  fully  informed  himself  before  he  en 
tered  that  holy  state,  but  Mrs.  Hicks  was  charming 
at  dinner  that  night,  and  Hicks  thought  it  would  all 
come  out  right. 

Next  day  he  gave  notice  in  the  Senate  that  on 
the  following  afternoon,  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
morning  business,  he  would  submit  some  remarks  to 
the  Senate  on  the  general  state  of  the  union.  There 
was  an  undercurrent  of  laughter  as  Hicks  made  his 
announcement,  which  he  did,  not  from  his  seat,  but 
after  he  had  walked  to  the  head  of  the  center  aisle, 
had  posed  there  for  a  moment  and  had  rolled  out 
"M-r-r-r.  P-r-r-eso-dunt!"  to  get  recognition  from 
the  chair.  The  older  Senators  looked  curiously  at 
him,  as  he  stood  there,  wrapped  in  a  long  coat,  with 
his  polished  hair  reflecting  the  softened  lights  that 
straggled  through  the  stained  glass  ceiling,  the  flow 
ing  ends  of  his  tie  elaborately  disposed  on  his  bosom, 
and  his  whole  pose  extremely  histrionic.  The  Dem 
ocratic  leader  grimaced  as  if  in  pain.  The  men 
in  the  press  gallery  made  note  of  the  occurrence, 
and  the  word  was  passed  that  next  day  young  Hicks 
was  to  put  on  a  show.  Whereupon,  the  bureau 
chiefs  told  the  big  funny  men  to  go  up  next  day  and 
"take  a  hack  at  Hicks." 

Paxton  hurried  over  to  Hicks's  seat.  "That's 
right,"  he  said.  "Don't  wait.  Give  it  to  them  red- 
hot.  They  will  all  be  here  to  listen." 

Paxton  spent  the  rest  of  the  afternoon  going 
from  one  desk  to  another,  advising  all  Senators  to 
be  in  their  seats  next  day,  as  he  could  guarantee 
them  a  performance  that  would  interest  them.  Hicks 
sat  in  solitary  state  in  his  rear-row  seat,  after  he 


THE    FAKERS  323 

had  disposed  himself  in  what  he  considered  a  states 
manlike  attitude,  and  tried  to  give  the  impression 
he  was  thinking  great  thoughts  to  be  expounded  to 
the  Senate. 

He  left  at  three  o'clock,  to  escort  Mrs.  Hicks  to 
the  train.  He  handed  her  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars,  which  she  took  as  if  it  belonged  to  her, 
Hicks  noticed  to  his  great  alarm,  thanked  him  casu 
ally,  and  ordered  up  the  porter  for  her  hand  lug 
gage. 

"The  green  cars  run  past  the  station,"  suggested 
Huks  as  they  came  down  in  the  elevator. 

Apparently,  she  did  not  hear  him,  for  she  went 
directly  to  the  carriage  man's  desk  and  said:  "A 
taxicab,  please." 

Hicks  followed  meekly.  The  porter  put  the  bags 
in  the  cab,  the  starter  helped  Mrs.  Hicks  in  with 
elaborate  politeness,  and  stood  with  his  hand  on 
the  cab  door,  smiling  expectantly,  while  the  porter 
lined  up  beside  him  and  smiled  expectantly  also. 

"Go  ahead,"  ordered  Hicks  impatiently. 

Mrs.  Hicks  did  not  turn  her  head,  nor  did  she, 
apparently,  move  her  lips,  but  she  said  sharply  to 
Hicks:  "Give  them  their  tips." 

Hicks  went  into  his  pocket  in  an  embarrassed 
fashion  and  gave  each  man  a  quarter.  The  starter 
then  inquired  politely:  "Where  to,  please?" 

"Union  Station,"  Hicks  replied  gruffly. 

"Take  Senator  and  Mrs.  Hicks  to  the  Union  Sta 
tion,  driver,"  said  the  starter  grandly,  and  Hicks  re 
laxed  and  bowed  graciously  to  the  uniformed  man. 

Mrs.  Hicks  discussed  certain  persons  she  had  ob 
served  in  the  hotel,  talking  incessantly  until  the  sta 
tion  was  reached.  There  Hicks  paid  the  driver, 
gave  him  a  quarter  also,  and  started  to  pick  up  the 
bags  and  carry  them  in  himself.  Mrs.  Hicks  pushed 
his  hand  away  and  beckoned  to  a  station  porter. 


324  THE    FAKERS 

Then  she  led  Hicks  into  the  station,  and  out  to  the 
concourse. 

"I  hope  your  speech  will  be  a  great  success,  Mar- 
maduke,"  she  said,  brushing  his  cheek  with  her  lips, 
and  he  stood  watching  her,  filled  with  admiration 
for  her  grace  and  attractiveness  as  she  walked  down 
the  platform  to  her  car. 

"Well,"  Hicks  thought,  "she'll  have  to  pay  that 
porter's  tip  herself,  anyhow." 

He  remained  until  the  train  was  pulling  out.  As 
he  turned  to  go  a  red-capped  negro  touched  him 
on  the  arm,  bowed  and  said:  "The  lady  said  you'd 
pay  me,  boss." 

Hicks  whistled,  reflected  Mrs.  Hicks  was  not 
there  to  see,  and  grudgingly  gave  the  boy  a  dime. 
He  went  out  and  took  a  street  car  back  to  the  hotel. 
He  bought  an  afternoon  paper,  and,  after  he  had 
read  the  headlines  on  the  first  page,  had  glanced 
at  the  Congressional  news,  and  had  observed,  par 
ticularly,  a  paragraph  which  said  Senator  Hicks  was 
to  address  the  Senate  next  afternoon,  he  turned  to 
the  notes  of  social  doings. 

The  fourth  item  in  the  column  read:  "Mrs.  T. 
Marmaduke  Hicks,  wife  of  Senator  Hicks,  is  at  the 
Hotel  Superbious,  in  New  York,  for  a  few  days. 
Mrs.  Hicks,  who  is  a  bride  and  a  most  charming 
addition  to  Congressional  society,  and  who  has  lived 
abroad  for  the  greater  part  of  her  life,  especially 
in  France,  where  she  is  a  social  favorite,  will  in 
troduce  to  Washington  society  during  the  season  a 
number  of  artists  and  musicians  whom  she  met  on 
the  Continent.  Mrs.  Hicks  has  in  contemplation 
a  literary  morning  at  the  Palace  Hotel,  when  Pierre 
Chatrand,  the  noted  Parisian  litterateur,  will  read 
from  his  own  works." 

The  paper  dropped  from  his  hand.  His  wife 
going  to  the  Hotel  Superbious  instead  of  to  the 


THE    FAKERS  325 

Dwighton — the  Hotel  Superbious  which  she  had  con 
sidered  noisy  and  vulgar.  He  wondered  why,  and 
quaked  a  little  at  the  thought  of  what  her  entertain 
ment  there  would  cost.  He  was  so  sure  she  would 
go  to  the  Dwighton  he  had  not  asked  her  plans. 
Moreover,  he  had  not  heard  of  the  proposed  literary 
mornings.  Those,  he  supposed,  would  cost  some 
thing.  Evidently,  Mrs.  Hicks  intended  to  live  up 
to  her  station.  He  knew  his  wife  must  have  sent 
that  information  to  the  paper  herself — whereat 
he  had  an  inkling  of  what  was  the  fact — Mrs.  T. 
Marmaduke  Hicks  was  even  cleverer  than  her  hus 
band  at  the  husband's  own  particular  game  of  pub 
licity. 

There  wasn't  a  new  idea  or  a  new  expression  in 
the  speech  Hicks  proposed  to  deliver,  but  he  thought 
it  well  to  supply  the  papers  with  advance  copies  of 
his  remarks.  He  sent  for  his  stenographer,  who 
was  an  expert  typewriter,  and  dictated  the  speech 
direct  to  the  machine.  A  dozen  copies  were  made. 
Then  Hicks  wrote  the  introduction  for  it,  saying: 

"The  dignified  and  austere  Senate  of  the  United 
States  was  made  aware  this  afternoon  that  a  new 
force  had  entered  within  the  precincts  of  that  body. 
Senator  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  although  a  young 
member,  made  one  of  the  greatest  speeches  ever 
heard  in  that  forum  where  great  speeches  are  the 
rule.  He  chose  for  his  theme  the  rights  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  for  three  hours  the  entire  membership  of 
the  Senate  hung  breathless  on  his  impassioned  utter 
ances,  while  the  crowded  galleries  broke  into  peals 
of  thunderous  applause.  Senator  Hicks  was  elo 
quent,  witty,  logical,  effective.  His  speech  stamped 
him  as  a  factor  to  be  reckoned  with  in  the  future  af 
fairs  of  the  Senate,  and  immediately  placed  him  on 
a  par,  if  not  above,  the  great  orators  and  debaters 
of  that  distinguished  assemblage.  At  the  conclu- 


326  THE    FAKERS 

sion  of  his  speech  Senator  Hicks  was  warmly  con 
gratulated  by  his  colleagues,  who  unanimously  pre 
dicted  a  brilliant  career  for  him,  while  the  galleries 
cheered  the  eloquent  and  earnest  young  orator  to  the 
echo." 

The  stenographer  delivered  copies  of  the  speech 
to  the  correspondents  of  the  big  papers  in  Hicks's 
state,  including  a  copy  of  the  introduction  with  each, 
and  to  the  New  York  and  Chicago  papers.  These 
were  marked  "For  release  for  the  papers  of  Friday 
afternoon,"  which  precluded  the  sending  in  of  the 
introduction  that  night  by  the  correspondents,  who 
were  all  there  next  afternoon,  when  Hicks  rose  to 
talk.  So  was  nearly  the  entire  Senate  membership. 
Hicks  was  somewhat  chagrined  that  the  bare  an 
nouncement  he  was  to  speak  did  not  fill  the  galleries, 
which  contained  only  the  usual  number  of  idlers  and 
tourists,  but  he  felt  after  he  had  talked  this  once, 
there  never  would  be  a  time  when  the  announce 
ment  of  a  speech  by  him  would  not  jam  the  galleries. 

He  had  moved  around  to  a  seat  on  the  center 
aisle  at  the  end  of  the  next  to  the  last  row  on  the 
Democratic  side.  He  was  elaborately  prepared.  Al 
though  he  could  talk  the  stuff  he  intended  to  talk 
by  the  hour,  without  note  or  reference  of  any  kind, 
he  had  his  stenographer  lug  in  half  a  dozen  big  law 
books,  which  were  piled  ostentatiously  on  his  desk, 
and  had  displayed  a  lot  of  papers,  documents,  pam 
phlets  and  other  properties  in  order  to  give  evi 
dence  of  great  and  studious  preparation. 

The  morning  business  came  to  an  end.  The  pre 
siding  officer  looked  expectantly  at  Hicks.  The 
Senators  turned  in  their  chairs.  The  messenger  in 
the  press  gallery  stuck  his  head  through  the  door 
and  shouted  to  the  waiting  correspondents  in  the 
correspondents'  workroom  outside:  "Hicks  is  up!" 
and  the  correspondents  came  trooping  in. 


THE    FAKERS  327 

Hicks  rose.  He  was  self-possessea.  The  white 
button  of  the  purity  league  in  his  buttonhole  was  the 
only  relief  to  his  somber  attire.  His  black  hair  was 
glossy,  his  smile  complacent,  his  manner  confident. 
He  made  a  pretext  of  arranging  his  books  and 
papers,  stepped  out  into  the  aisle,  glanced  patroniz 
ingly  around  at  the  interested  Senators,  let  his  eyes 
dwell  for  a  moment  on  the  crowded  press  gallery, 
thought  with  much  satisfaction  the  reporters  were  all 
on  hand  for  this  momentous  event,  and  began. 

"M-r-r-r.  Pr-r-eso-dunt !"  he  rolled  out,  "while  I 
am  aware  that  it  may  seem  presumptuous  for  a  Sena 
tor  who  has  so  recently  come  among  you  to  seek 
expression  on  the  floor  thus  early,  I  am  constrained 
to  ask  the  forbearance  of  this  distinguished  body  be 
cause  the  message  I  bring  to  them  is  of  such  im 
mediate  and  pressing  moment,  and  because  it  seems 
to  me  I  have  been  especially  commissioned,  by  the 
people,  to  deliver  it  to  you." 

"This  is  going  to  be  better  than  your  advance 
notices  led  me  to  expect,"  whispered  the  Republi 
can  leader  to  Senator  Paxton. 

Paxton  grinned  and  nodded.  Hicks  took  another 
step  forward,  threw  up  his  hands  as  if  invoking  the 
aid  of  Heaven,  and  continued:  "Meek  and  lowly  as 
I  am,  I  am  the  humble  instrument  through  which 
this  message  is  to  be  communicated.  I  voice  to  you 
the  protest  of  the  people,  the  great,  patriotic,  hard 
working,  honest,  God-fearing  people — the  people 
who  are  the  backbone  of  our  institutions  as  they  are 
the  support  and  mainstay  of  our  Republic — the  peo 
ple  who  have  so  long  been  despised  and  downtrod 
den  by  the  forces  of  greed  and  power  and  arro 
gance  and  crime  and  corruption — the  people  who 
now  are  coming  into  their  own,  and  who  look  to 
me  to  hold  aloft  their  standard,  to  fight  the  fight 
for  them,  and  to  keep  the  faith." 


328  THE    FAKERS 

Hicks  made  an  impressive  rhetorical  pause.  He 
looked  at  the  press  gallery.  Most  of  the  reporters 
there  were  writing  busily.  He  felt  a  great  content. 
He  imagined  his  speech  would  be  printed  in  every 
paper  in  the  land  that  afternoon  and  next  morning, 
and  he  stretched  out  his  arms  again,  and  pleaded 
the  cause  of  the  dear  people,  assailed  the  Republi 
can  party,  excoriated  the  Standard  Oil  Company, 
denounced  trusts  and  corporations,  told  of  the  ini 
quities  of  Wall  Street,  and  the  Money  Devil,  flayed 
the  special  interests,  denounced  in  unmeasured  terms 
all  who  were  opposed  to  the  fullest  extension  of  pop 
ular  government,  execrated  Rockefeller  and  Mor 
gan,  and  Harriman,  and  the  National  City  Bank, 
and  displayed  his  entire  box  of  tricks. 

He  closed  with  an  impassioned  tribute  to  the  plain 
people,  the  farmers  who  are  the  wealth-producers 
and  the  laboring  men  who  make  capital  of  value. 
He  pleaded  for  them,  wept  for  them,  exalted  them, 
and,  for  his  peroration,  solemnly  warned  the  Sen 
ate  unless  cognizance  was  taken  of  the  abuses  that 
had  been  and  were  being  heaped  upon  the  common 
people,  there  would  be  an  uprising  that  would  sweep 
the  forces  of  capitalistic  and  corrupt  government 
from  their  entrenched  position,  a  revolution  of  bal- 
ots,  bloodless,  he  prayed,  but  a  revolution  that  would 
sink  to  oblivion  all  those  who  now  so  arrogantly 
refuse  to  consider  the  cry  for  succor  from  the  peo 
ple  who  form  the  underlying  basic  strength  of  this 
greatest  country  on  which  the  sun  ever  shone. 

Hicks  talked  for  more  than  two  hours.  He  could 
have  talked  a  week,  had  he  wished  to.  The  Sena 
tors  listened,  chuckled,  walked  out  and  came  back. 
The  galleries  rilled.  The  reporters  hurried  joshing 
descriptive  stories  over  the  wires.  Hicks,  confident 
he  was  making  a  profound  impression,  ran  his  voice 
up  and  down  over  its  entire  elocutionary  gamut.  He 


THE    FAKERS  329 

made  dramatic  pauses.  He  pounded  the  books  piled 
on  the  desk.  He  turned  and  shook  an  accusing 
finger  at  the  grinning  Republicans.  He  stamped 
back  and  forth  in  the  aisle.  He  ranted,  roared, 
and,  when  he  was  detailing  the  woes  of  the  people, 
he  had  great  difficulty  in  repressing  his  tears,  and 
let  his  voice  break  artistically. 

As  he  finished  he  sank  into  his  seat  and  bowed 
his  head.  There  was  a  spattering  of  applause  in 
the  galleries.  The  Senator  in  charge  of  the  Indian 
Bill  instantly  called  up  that  measure,  and  the  routine 
of  the  Senate  began  again.  But  the  Republican 
Senators,  almost  to  a  man,  came  over  to  Hicks  and 
congratulated  him,  wrung  his  hand,  exclaimed  at  the 
marvelous  eloquence  he  had  displayed  and  told  him 
he  had  set  an  oratorical  mark  high  above  any  pre 
vious  one  made  in  the  Senate.  The  Democrats  were 
perfunctory  in  their  congratulations,  except  a  few 
of  the  radicals.  These  told  Hicks  he  had  started 
well,  but  didn't  seem  particularly  enthusiastic,  much 
to  his  surprise.  He  set  that  down  to  jealousy.  He 
waited  until  there  was  no  possible  chance  for  any 
further  congratulations,  stood  about  the  Senate 
chamber  for  a  time,  went  into  the  cloak-room  to 
see  if,  perchance,  some  Senator  might  not  be  there 
who  desired  to  felicitate  him,  and  then  went  to  his 
office  and  sent  out  for  the  Washington  afternoon 
papers. 

These  papers  printed  portions  of  the  speech,  and 
said  little  about  it,  except  to  comment  on  the  fact 
it  was  an  unusual  performance,  both  in  manner  and 
matter.  He  went  into  his  hotel  well  content,  and 
sent  a  telegram  to  his  wife  at  the  Hotel  Superbious, 
giving  the  details  of  this  triumph  and  telling  her  he 
had  arrived  at  the  top  in  one  leap,  and  that  she 
was  the  wife  of  a  famous  Senator.  He  posed  about 
the  hotel  that  night,  grabbed  every  hand  that  was 


330  THE    FAKERS 

offered  him,  and  listened  with  pleased  smiles  to  the 
extravagant  praise  lavished  on  him. 

He  sent  down  for  the  New  York  papers  early 
next  morning,  and  his  face  reddened  and  his  heart 
beat  rapidly  when  he  saw  what  they  had  done  to 
him.  There  wasn't  a  paper  in  the  lot  that  didn't 
have  a  column  story  about  the  speech,  on  the  front 
page,  and  every  story  was  a  josh.  One  paper  printed 
his  own  introduction,  verbatim,  and  headed  it  in  big, 
black  letters,  "By  Senator  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks." 

It  was  sickening.  He  began  the  preparation  of 
a  statement  to  the  public,  claiming  these  attacks 
on  him  in  the  monopolistic  New  York  papers  were 
due  to  his  well-known  advocacy  of  the  rights  of  the 
people  and  their  equally  well-known  subserviency  of 
the  press,  to  the  gamblers  of  Wall  Street  and  the 
corrupt  corporations  and  trusts. 

After  he  had  worked  on  this  half  an  hour  he  had 
another  idea,  and  stopped  his  denunciation  of  the 
New  York  papers.  He  wrote  a  dozen  telegrams 
to  himself,  from  various  parts  of  the  country,  com 
plimenting  him  highly  on  his  speech,  signed  fake 
names  to  them,  and  put  them  in  his  pocket.  He  in 
tended  to  hand  these  to  his  stenographer  when  he 
reached  his  office,  and  to  tell  him  to  make  many 
duplicate  copies  of  them,  and  send  them  to  the  chaf 
fing  correspondents,  with  a  note  stating  that  not 
withstanding  the  apparent  attempts  of  the  press 
to  belittle  him,  the  people,  the  real  common  people, 
were  with  him,  as  these  telegrams,  of  which  he  sent 
accurate  copies,  showed.  Also,  he  thought  of  sev 
eral  letters,  or  extracts  from  letters,  he  might  con 
coct  in  the  same  way,  and  probably  have  the  entire 
lot  inserted  in  the  Congressional  Record  so  he 
might  send  them  out  under  a  frank. 

This  congenial  labor  restored  him  to  a  more  con 
tented  frame  of  mind. 


THE    FAKERS  331 

"Those  New  York  boys  were  a  little  rough  on 
you  this  morning,  Hicks,"  said  Senator  Paxton  to 
him,  "but  don't  mind  that.  New  York  isn't  the 
whole  country,  although  New  York  thinks  it  is,  and 
that  stuff  will  go  great  when  it  is  franked  out  to 
the  lads  in  the  country  districts.  You'll  have  to  get 
used  to  these  attacks  by  the  servile  minions  of  a 
capitalistic  press,  you  know." 

"Sure,"  Hicks  replied,  with  a  jauntiness  he  did  not 
feel,  "I  can  work  that  capitalistic  New  York  press 
business  to  a  good  effect  out  home." 

Paxton  looked  at  Hicks  with  admiration. 

"My  boy,"  he  said,  "if  you  ever  begin  to  take 
yourself  as  seriously  within  as  you  appear  to  take 
yourself  without,  God  help  you." 


CHAPTER   XXXVII 

MRS.  HICKS,  reading  the  ridicule  of  her 
husband  in  the  New  York  papers  at 
the  Hotel  Superbious,  was  concerned. 
She  was  under  no  delusions  as  to  his 
character  or  characteristics.  The  only 
things  about  him  she  cared  for  more  than  casually 
were  his  title  of  Senator  and  his  money.  She  had 
taken  a  gambler's  chance  on  his  return  to  the  Sen 
ate  by  election,  hoped  he  had  as  much  money  as  he 
said  he  had,  and  she  had  planned  an  elaborate  fu 
ture  for  herself  in  Washington.  She  shrewdly  as 
sayed  her  husband,  knew  he  had  qualities  that  could 
be  developed,  and  knew,  also  he  had  faults  that  must 
be  suppressed.  She  considered  him  so  much  raw 
material  for  her  skilful  manipulations,  and  resolved 
to  use  all  her  finesse  and  all  her  knowledge  on  him 
and  refine  him,  tone  him  down,  rub  the  rough  edges 
off,  train  him  and  put  forward  his  good  features, 
provided  he  was  elected.  She  determined  on  this 
procedure  as  a  supplementary  activity,  of  course,  for 
her  first  and  almost  entire  concern  was  herself.  She, 
as  Mrs.  Senator  Hicks,  in  her  own  right,  would  exalt 
herself.  If  her  husband  rose  with  her,  all  well  and 
good,  and  she  would  help  him,  if  she  had  time,  but, 
first  and  foremost,  she  must  rise,  and  that  is  exactly 
what  she  intended  to  do. 

She  turned  her  attention  to  her  gowning.  She 
knew  the  shops  in  New  York  intimately,  knew  the 
modistes  and  the  milliners,  and  had  an  acquaintance 

332 


THE    FAKERS  333 

with  their  excellencies  and  their  various  deficiencies. 
She  had  never  been  able  to  buy  much  from  the  most 
fashionable  ones,  owing  to  her  limited  income,  but 
she  had  a  full  knowledge  of  what  she  might  have 
bought  had  she  been  able,  and  she  went  direct  to 
the  greatest  and  most  fashionable  Parisian  modiste 
in  New  York.  She  explained  who  she  was,  proved 
her  identity,  and  demanded  to  see  the  best  this 
haughty  lady  had.  She  wanted  an  evening  gown  and 
several  other  costumes.  She  could  not  wait  for  per 
sonal  making.  She  asked  to  see  models  brought 
from  Paris,  for  she  knew  she  might  easily  be  fitted 
in  this  emergency,  and  could  get  creations  con 
structed  for  herself  later,  when  the  hurry  was  not 
so  great. 

She  critically  examined  the  exclusive  models  this 
modiste  had,  and  visited  several  others.  At  each 
establishment,  being  a  woman  who  knew  about 
clothes,  she  took  all  offerings  of  evening  gowns  into 
the  "evening  room"  and  sought  for  the  effect  their 
colors  had  on  her  complexion  under  the  glare  of 
electric  lights.  She  spent  hours  on  this,  by  her 
self,  trying  colors,  matching  herself  to  shades,  and 
getting  the  exact  tones  she  desired,  always  having  in 
mind  a  spectacular  appearance  wherever  she  might 
be.  In  the  end  she  selected  one  sumptuous  and 
very  expensive  evening  gown,  and  one  somewhat 
simpler,  both  exclusive  models  from  the  most  fa 
mous  house  in  Paris.  She  bought  a  costly  evening 
wrap,  a  calling  dress,  and  much  lingerie,  many  gloves, 
boots,  slippers  and  pumps  of  various  kinds.  She 
spared  no  expense  for  hats,  and  bought  several. 

All  of  this  took  ten  days.  Hicks  having  discov 
ered  that,  as  Senator,  he  could  send  telegrams  and 
have  them  paid  for  by  the  Government,  wrote  her 
several  long  wires  each  day  urging  her  to  come  back, 
detailing  his  successes,  and  telling  her  of  his  utter 


334  THE   FAKERS 

loneliness  and  lack  of  interest  in  life  without  her.  In 
reality,  Hicks  got  along  very  well  without  her,  for 
he  had  the  bachelor  habit,  and  had  been  married 
only  a  brief  while. 

Mrs.  Hicks  opened  charge  accounts  at  the  various 
places  she  patronized,  insisting  on  that,  and  display 
ing  her  credentials  as  the  wife  of  Senator  Hicks, 
which  was  sufficient  in  most  instances.  She  told  each 
shopkeeper,  milliner,  modiste,  boot-seller  and  all 
others  with  whom  she  dealt,  to  send  the  bills  to  her, 
but  to  make  them  out  to  her  husband.  She  supplied 
herself  with  handkerchiefs,  laces,  perfumes,  cos 
metics,  stockings  and  what  not,  and  by  the  time  she 
was  ready  to  return  she  had  spent  about  two  thou 
sand  dollars  for  the  Senator. 

Hicks  was  at  the  station  to  meet  her,  and  wel 
comed  her  effusively.  He  made  no  suggestion  of  a 
street  car  this  time,  and  took  her  to  the  Palace  Ho 
tel  in  a  taxicab.  She  charmed  him  with  a  vivacious 
account  of  her  visit  to  the  metropolis.  He  asked  if 
she  had  obtained  her  gowns  and  she  said  she  had 
"selected  a  few  little  things"  which  she  hoped  he 
would  like. 

Hicks  had  his  doubts  about  the  "few  little  things" 
part  of  her  story  when  the  boxes  and  packages  be 
gan  arriving  by  express,  but  said  nothing,  and  con 
cluded  she  had  paid  for  them  herself,  inasmuch  as 
she  had  not  asked  him  for  money  beyond  the  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

He  took  great  satisfaction  in  showing  her  off  in 
the  hotel  lobby  and  in  the  long  corridor  that  ran 
between  the  restaurants.  He  had  had  a  severe  jolt 
when  he  received  his  first  week's  bill  from  the  hotel, 
but  paid  it  with  the  reflection  that  in  a  short  time 
he  would  move  to  a  cheaper  place.  Mrs.  Hicks  did 
not  ask  for  money.  Instead,  as  Hicks  discovered, 
she  got  what  money  she  wanted  at  the  cashier's  win- 


THE   FAKERS  335 

dow  in  the  hotel,  and  had  it  charged  in  the  bill. 
Also,  she  sent  such  purchases  as  she  made  in  the 
Washington  stores  to  the  hotel,  C.  O.  D.,  and  the 
hotel  paid  those  and  charged  the  amounts  in  the  bill, 
and  she  used  cabs  and  automobiles  lavishly,  and  had 
manicures,  a  masseuse,  a  daily  hairdresser,  and  paid 
one  of  the  hotel  girls  by  the  hour  to  act  as  her  maid 
when  she  needed  her. 

She  made  some  calls,  but  Hicks  observed  she 
wore  none  of  her  new  gowns.  He  asked  her  why. 
She  said  she  wasn't  ready,  yet,  and  told  Hicks  to 
wait  developments.  They  had  been  invited  no 
where.  Mrs.  Hicks  was  planning  to  give  a  dinner 
herself  and  had  told  Hicks  they  must  do  something 
of  the  kind  when  cards  came  for  a  reception  given 
by  Mrs.  Jackson,  wife  of  Hicks's  colleague,  the 
senior  Senator  from  his  state.  Mrs.  Hicks  was 
elated,  for  the  Jacksons  had  been  a  long  time  in 
Washington,  lived  in  a  big  house  in  the  vicinity  of 
Sheridan  Circle,  the  most  fashionable  part  of  the 
city,  and  Mrs.  Hicks  was  sure  the  function  was  to  be 
of  importance. 

She  became  tremendously  interested  and  began 
at  once  to  make  her  preparations  for  the  event. 
She  brought  out  her  gowns  bought  in  New  York, 
selected  the  sumptuous  one,  and  had  herself  photo 
graphed  in  it  in  her  room,  in  various  poses,  which 
was  simple  inasmuch  as  Washington  photographers 
are  accustomed  to  this  sort  of  thing.  She  examined 
her  proofs  critically,  and  had  the  photographers  in 
a  frenzy  over  her  exactions  before  she  selected  four 
poses.  These  she  had  finished  suitably  for  news 
paper  reproduction.  She  called  up  the  public  stenog 
rapher  from  the  hotel  lobby,  dictated  a  description 
of  her  gown,  of  herself,  and  put  in  a  few  details  of 
her  family  and  social  connections  and  of  her  Euro 
pean  acquaintance.  This  description  was  duplicated 


336  THE    FAKERS 

on  the  typewriter  and  filed  away  with  the  photo 
graphs.  On  the  evening  of  the  reception,  which 
was  to  begin  at  ten  o'clock,  she  retired  to  her  room 
at  seven,  and  told  Hicks  he  must  not  bother  her 
until  she  appeared.  Hicks  looked  at  the  cards, 
which  were  conspicuously  displayed  on  their  parlor 
table,  and  saw  the  reception  was  to  begin  at  ten 
o'clock.  He  was  dressed  and  ready  at  half-past 
nine,  and  waited  impatiently  until  ten,  when  he 
wrapped  on  his  wife's  door  and  said:  "Alys,  my 
dear,  we  shall  be  late." 

"I  shall  be  ready  presently,"  Mrs.  Hicks  replied. 
"Be  patient." 

At  a  quarter  past  and  at  half-past  ten  Hicks, 
nervous  by  that  time,  demanded  that  she  hurry,  and 
each  time  was  told  to  be  calm.  Finally,  at  a  quarter 
to  eleven,  when  he  was  fast  becoming  frantic,  her 
door  opened  and  she  came  out. 

Hicks  gave  a  cry  of  astonishment  and  admiration. 
She  was  wrapped  in  a  cloak  of  black  silk  velvet, 
caught  up  close  around  her  feet,  completely  envelop 
ing  her  in  its  soft  folds.  The  collar  was  wide  and 
was  of  a  magnificent  black  fur  that  caressed  her 
milky  throat,  and  rolled  down  to  the  waist  line.  The 
flowing  sleeves  were  cuffed  with  this  fur,  and  the 
wrap  seemed  to  be  lined  with  it.  He  noticed  her  feet 
were  shod  in  brightly-colored  slippers,  and  that  her 
hair  was  arranged  with  even  greater  fastidiousness 
than  usual.  Always  ultra,  she  had  surpassed  her 
self  with  this  coiffure.  Her  intensely  black  hair  was 
undulated  and  stretched,  flatly  and  tightly,  in  two 
loops,  or  waves,  on  each  side  of  her  face,  the  one 
dropping  over  the  ears  and  the  other  drawn  out 
to  the  middle  of  her  cheeks,  and  held  in  place  by 
some  adhesive  preparation.  This  gave  her  a  marked 
Parisian  appearance,  and  the  artistry  of  it  was  ap 
parent  when,  on  close  examination,  it  was  seen  the 


THE    FAKERS  337 

thinning  down  process  on  the  cheeks  extended,  al 
most,  to  the  correct  alignment  for  each  individual 
hair.  It  was  caught  back  in  an  elaborate  and  con 
voluted  knot,  low  on  her  neck. 

He  noticed,  also,  to  his  amazement,  her  usually 
clear,  pale,  almost  pallid  complexion  had  miracu 
lously  changed  to  a  girlish  rosiness.  He  rushed 
forward  to  take  her  in  his  arms. 

"Don't!"  she  said  peremptorily,  "don't  touch  me, 
please!" 

They  went  down  the  elevator.  She  had  arranged 
with  the  carriage  man  for  a  limousine  car,  and  it 
was  waiting.  They  were  rapidly  driven  to  the  Jack 
son  house. 

There  were  dozens  of  automobiles  arriving  and 
parked  nearby.  The  Hicks  machine  took  its  place 
in  the  line  that  crawled  up  on  the  roadway  under 
the  porte-cochere  and  discharged  beautifully  gowned 
women  and  faultlessly  attired  men.  They  reached 
the  door  after  many  stops  and  jerky  starts,  and  went 
in.  The  men  left  their  coats  at  one  side,  and  the 
ladies  on  the  other.  Hicks  waited  at  the  foot  of  the 
stairs  and  presently  a  vivid  woman  approached  him, 
a  woman  who  swayed  in  a  rosy  mist  before  his  daz 
zled  eyes,  a  sinuous,  lustrous  woman,  resplendent, 
striking  beyond  compare. 

Hicks  wondered  who  she  was,  and  his  knees  trem 
bled,  his  eyes  widened,  his  heart  jumped  when  she 
took  him  by  the  arm  and  said:  "Come,  Marma- 
duke." 

She  wras  his  wife — his  wife — this  glorious  creature 
whom  he  had  never  seen  in  any  other  color  than 
black,  or  black  and  white.  He  tried  to  look  at  her 
as  they  went  up  the  broad  stairway,  but  she  held 
him  close  and  hurried  him  on. 

The  orchestra  was  playing  a  popular  air,  there 
was  a  hum  of  talk,  and  as  they  reached  the  space 


338  THE    FAKERS 

at  the  top  of  the  stairs,  she  pressed  his  arm  and 
whispered:  "Wait!" 

They  stood  for  a  minute.  The  orchestra  stopped 
playing.  There  was  a  momentary  silence.  "Now!" 
she  said,  and  slightly  in  advance  of  him,  having  re 
leased  his  arm,  she  swept  into  the  great  drawing- 
room  where  Mrs.  Jackson  was  receiving  her  guests. 

It  was  like  a  sudden  sunburst  in  a  dull  day.  It 
was  like  a  splotch  of  carmine  on  a  black  cloth. 

"Ah-h-h!"  said  the  women,  involuntarily,  as  Mrs. 
Hicks  advanced  to  greet  Mrs.  Jackson.  Hicks  came 
behind. 

Instantly  every  woman's  eyes  took  in  the  details 
of  that  costume.  Instantly  every  man's  eyes  opened 
in  •admiration. 

They  saw  this  slender,  svelte,  perfectly-propor 
tioned  woman,  robed  in  a  closely-fitting,  shimmering, 
almost  luminous  gown  of  the  exquisite  color  of  a 
vivid  American  beauty  rose,  a  gown  that  was  draped 
and  interdraped  about  her  figure  down  to  the  tips 
of  her  rose-colored  slippers,  that  was  extremely 
long,  and  extremely  narrow — so  narrow  it  seemed 
she  must  walk  in  it  with  difficulty,  but  in  which  she 
did  walk  with  exceeding  grace.  There  was  a  long 
pointed  train.  Her  corsage  was  cut  into  a  daring  V 
in  front  and  into  a  still  more  elongated  and  daring 
V  in  the  back,  displaying  neck,  shoulders,  bosom  and, 
particularly,  a  back,  creamily  white  and  exquisite  in 
their  perfection.  She  wore  no  jewels,  and  the  lack 
of  them  seemed  to  accentuate  the  garishness  of  the 
necklaces  and  dog-collars  and  stomachers  and  tiaras 
on  other  women.  She  carried  one  perfect,  long- 
stemmed  American  beauty  rose  that  blended  abso 
lutely  with  the  color  of  her  gown. 

Such  desultory  conversation  as  there  was  stopped. 
Everybody  in  the  room  leaned  forward,  eagerly 
striving  to  see  her.  As  if  unconscious  of  the  sen- 


THE    FAKERS  339 

sation  she  had  created,  Mrs.  Hicks  greeted  her 
hostess,  chatted  with  her  a  moment,  and  moved 
down  the  line,  followed  by  the  bewildered  Hicks. 

Then  there  came  a  sudden  rush  of  "Who  is  she? 
Who  is  she?"  and  the  men  crowded  forward  to  find 
out,  and  the  women  shrank  back,  for  there  wasn't 
a  costume  in  the  room,  not  a  pink,  nor  a  blue,  nor 
a  lavender  nor  a  yellow  that  didn't  seem  faded, 
sickly,  insipid,  when  within  the  color  predominance 
of  that  gown. 

"How  dare  she?"  gasped  the  women,  "how  dare 
she?"  for  they  all  knew  the  effect  this  startling  crea 
ture,  in  this  startling  gown,  had  on  on  them  and 
their  costumes. 

"Great!"  said  the  men  and  flocked  around  to  be 
presented,  not  knowing  the  sartorial  crime  this 
woman  had  committed  in  the  eyes  of  their  women 
folk.  Mrs.  Hicks,  calmly  unconscious,  to  all  out 
ward  appearances,  of  the  enormity  of  her  offense, 
was  soon  the  animated  center  about  which  half  the 
men  in  the  room  revolved.  She  talked  vivaciously, 
used  her  French  and  Russian  phrases  continuously, 
shrugged  her  shoulders  with  charming  grace,  made 
her  moues,  and  utilized  her  rose  to  chic  effect  in  em 
phasizing  some  of  her  exclamations.  The  women 
scrutinized  her  coldly,  and  thought  she  must  be 
French.  The  men  were  inclined  to  the  belief  she 
was  a  Russian.  After  a  time  Hicks  recovered  his 
equanimity  sufficiently  to  announce  to  all  comers  she 
was  his  wife,  the  wife  of  Senator  T.  Marmaduke 
Hicks,  and  he  basked  assiduously  in  the  reflection 
of  her  glory. 

Senator  Paxton  was  there,  and  Mrs.  Paxton. 
"Goodness,  Billy,"  said  Mrs.  Paxton  to  her  husband, 
"look  at  that  amazing  woman.  Who  is  she?" 

The  Senator  looked;  "Can't  imagine,"  he  replied. 
"But  she  certainly  is  a  stunner." 


340  THE    FAKERS 

"Stunner!"  sniffed  Mrs.  Paxton.  "She  has  ab 
solutely  killed  the  dress  of  every  other  woman  in 
this  room  with  that  rig — fiendish,  I  call  it." 

Paxton  saw  Hicks.  "By  Jove!"  he  exclaimed,  "I 
believe  she's  the  wife  of  Tommie  Hicks.  A  fit  help 
meet,  I  should  say." 

"Pshaw!"  said  Mrs.  Paxton,  "she's  cleverer  than 
he  is.  That  gown  and  that  entrance  show  genius, 
Billy,  positive  genius." 

The  Senator  edged  his  way  over  to  Hicks.  "How 
do  you  do,  Senator,"  he  said.  "Am  I  right  in  sup 
posing  this  charming  lady  is  Mrs.  Hicks?" 

"She  is,  she  is,"  bubbled  Hicks.  "Alys,  dear,  al 
low  me  to  present  an  old  and  very  dear  friend,  Sen 
ator  Paxton." 

Mrs.  Hicks  impulsively  put  out  her  hand.  "Oh, 
Senator,"  she  said,  "I  have  heard  my  husband  speak 
of  you  so  many  times!" 

"Yes,  I  have  known  him  for  some  years.  In 
deed,"  he  continued  whimsically,  "I  flatter  myself 
I  had  something  to  do  with  the  making  of  your  hus 
band  what  he  is — a  Senator." 

She  turned  a  quick  glance  on  him.  "Allez  vous 
en!"  she  said. 

"I  did  so,"  protested  the  Senator,  laughing,  "but 
I  must  say  he  supplemented  my  endeavors  magnifi 
cently  when  he  married  you.  I  congratulate  him." 

"And  me?"  she  asked  archly. 

"Oh,"  replied  the  Senator,  as  he  moved  away, 
"why  paint  the  lily  or  gild  refined  gold?" 

Mrs.  Hicks  was  acutely  aware  of  the  sensation 
she  had  made.  She  had  no  intention  of  allowing 
herself  to  be  monopolized  by  the  men,  nor  of  allow 
ing  the  women  to  remain  aloof.  She  soon  inveigled 
Senator  Jackson  to  her  side,  and,  under  his  escort, 
moved  about  the  room,  was  presented  to  the  women, 
and  was  even  more  agreeable  to  them  than  she  had 


THE    FAKERS  341 

been  to  the  men.  She  chatted  gaily,  complimented 
them  tactfully,  spoke  of  herself  as  a  newcomer  in 
official  life  who  must  depend  upon  them  as  guides, 
philosophers  and  friends,  told  an  anecdote,  now  and 
then,  concerning  some  personage  she  had  known 
abroad,  flattered  some  of  the  women  about  their 
husbands — especially  the  wives  of  well-known  states 
men  whose  names  she  had  read  in  the  papers — and 
was  generally  pleasant,  affable  and  at  her  top  bent 
as  a  conversationalist.  Most  of  the  women  thawed. 
She  knew  how  to  be  a  woman's  woman  as  well  as  a 
man's  woman,  and  she  exerted  herself  to  'her  ut 
most  to  impress  herself  favorably  on  the  feminine 
portion  of  that  company. 

She  was  too  wise  to  allow  her  first  appearance 
in  a  Washington  house  to  dwindle  to  an  anti-climax, 
and  she  amazed  Hicks  by  telling  him  they  would  go 
before  he  thought  they  were  well  into  the  swing 
of  it. 

"But  it's  great,"  he  whispered  to  her.  "Stay 
awhile.  You've  made  an  awful  hit." 

"No,"  she  said,  "we'll  go  now." 

She  made  her  adieus,  and  took  the  reluctant  Hicks 
downstairs.  They  hurried  into  their  wraps,  secured 
their  automobile  and  left. 

Hicks  searched  his  soul  for  something  to  say 
to  her  to  express  his  tremendous  appreciation  of 
the  impression  she  had  made.  He  framed  a  dozen 
complimentary  speeches,  but  each  one  seemed  to 
him  not  to  be  extravagant  enough.  Finally,  feeling 
he  must  say  something,  he  began  mushily:  "How 
queenly  and  young  and  wonderful  you  are  to-night, 
my  love.  And  what  a  change  in  your  coloring.  Why, 
you  always  were  so  beautifully  white  and  now ' 

"Cochonf"  she  said  sharply,  and  leaned  back  in 
the  corner  of  the  car  and  closed  her  eyes. 


H 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII 

ICKS  did  not  know  what  "cochon" 
meant,  and  he  intended  to  look  up  the 
word,  but,  as  he  would  have  phrased 
it  himself:  "other  matters  of  greater 
moment"  intervened,  and  the  incident 
passed  out  of  his  mind.  He  imagined  it  was  a  com 
pliment,  for  how  could  his  wife  address  anything  but 
compliments  to  him,  especially  as  he  had  been  so 
prominent  at  the  Jackson  reception.  By  morning 
Hicks  h?d  convinced  himself  he  was  the  sensation  at 
the  reception,  and  not  Mrs.  Hicks. 

The  episode  was  a  general  topic  of  conversation 
among  the  official  women  next  day,  those  who  were 
at  the  reception  hastening  to  tell  those  who  were  not. 
The  papers  printed  large  pictures  of  Mrs.  Hicks  in 
her  gown,  a  minute  description  of  the  costume,  and 
a  paragraph  about  this  Senatorial  bride,  and  her 
family  and  all  that,  all  of  which  had  been  sent  in 
by  Mrs.  Hicks  with  polite  notes  to  the  society  edi 
tors  asking  them  to  use.  While  she  was  in  New 
York  Mrs.  Hicks  had  a  hurry  order  for  note  paper 
filled.  She  had  a  die  of  her  personally  invented 
crest,  and  she  had  used  it  on  note  paper  before,  but 
this  time  she  went  to  the  most  expensive  stationer 
on  Fifth  Avenue,  ordered  a  complete  outfit  of  writ 
ing  materials,  in  all  the  fashionable  sizes,  had  every 
sheet  of  the  paper,  the  correspondence  cards,  and 
the  flaps  of  the  envelopes  embossed  with  her  crest. 
She  used  this  paper  when  writing  to  the  society  edi- 

342 


THE    FAKERS  343 

tors,  writing  in  the  third  person  and  hoping  to  cre 
ate  an  impression.  The  society  editors  were  familiar 
with  crests,  but  a  new  woman  in  Washington  rarely 
made  such  a  sensation  and  they  were  glad  to  print 
the  picture  and  all  they  could  get  about  her,  con 
fining  the  other  details  of  the  reception  to  a  few 
lines,  and  making  it  seem  as  if  Mrs.  Hicks  had  been 
about  all  there  was  to  it. 

Mrs.  Hicks  was  greatly  pleased  with  the  news 
paper  representation  of  her  first  venture  into  so 
ciety,  and  resolved  to  press  her  advantage.  The 
Cabinet  ladies  were  receiving  that  afternoon,  and 
she  early  began  her  preparations  for  a  descent  on 
them.  At  four  o'clock  she  appeared  in  the  hotel 
lobby  and  took  the  big  limousine  car  they  had  the 
night  before.  She  had  arranged  to  have  a  great 
bunch  of  violets  in  the  car  and  created  another  sen 
sation  as  she  walked  out  to  the  carriage  entrance. 
She  wore  a  black  velvet  dress,  with  a  demi-train. 
Her  hat  was  a  Gainsborough  with  a  sweeping  plume. 
She  wore  her  heirloom  pearls — the  long  twisted  rope 
around  her  neck  and  oddly-shaped  pendants  in  her 
ears.  She  carried  a  lorgnette,  which  she  constantly 
used  in  true  Parisian  fashion.  Pier  complexion  had 
miraculously  returned  to  its  original  pallor  and  her 
lips  were  a  livid  crimson.  Her  hair  was  in  the 
style  of  the  night  before.  She  swept  into  each  Cabi 
net  home,  ran  the  gamut  of  her  French  and  Russian 
expressions,  displayed  all  her  wares  and  swept  out, 
leaving  a  flutter  of  agitated  conversation  behind  her 
at  each  place.  She  intended  to  make  another  im 
pression,  and  she  made  a  series  of  them. 

Hicks  posed  about  the  Senate  chamber  that  after 
noon,  and  received  the  congratulations  of  those  Sen 
ators  who  had  been  at  the  Jackson  reception.  He 
was  not  at  all  interested  in  the  proceedings  in  the 
Senate,  inasmuch  as  he  saw  no  way  for  projecting 


344  THE    FAKERS 

himself  into  the  debate,  not  because  of  his  ignorance 
of  the  subject  under  discussion,  which  would  not 
have  deterred  him,  but  because  he  couldn't  discover 
advertising  for  Hicks  in  it,  left  early  and  strolled 
back  to  his  hotel. 

Near  the  corner  of  Eleventh  Street  he  met  Wil 
liam  G.  Buffum,  of  Blossburg,  Corliss  County.  Buf- 
fum  was  a  farmer,  a  Democrat  who  had  been  im 
pressed  with  Hicks's  oratory  about  the  people,  and 
had  helped  Hicks  get  delegates  many  times.  He  con 
sidered  Hicks  a  sterling  representative  of  the 
masses,  and  was  somewhat  abashed  when  he  en 
countered  that  statesman  elaborately  attired  in  a 
frock  coat,  a  high  hat,  and  various  other  habiliments 
that  did  not  jibe,  in  Buffum's  opinion,  with  friend 
liness  and  concern  for  the  toiling  masses. 

"Howdy,  Senator,"  said  Buffum,  in  a  rather 
abashed  fashion. 

"Why,  Billy,"  exclaimed  Hicks,  dropping  into 
the  vernacular,  "howdy !  How  is  my  dear  old  friend 
from  Corliss?  I  am  glad  to  see  you,  powerful  glad 
to  see  you,  Billy.  It  is  a  sight  for  sore  eyes  to  let 
them  rest  on  the  honest  face  of  one  of  my  old  and 
dear  friends  like  you.  How  long  have  you  been 
here?" 

And  he  took  Buffum's  right  hand  in  both  of  his 
and  shook  it  vigorously,  holding  to  it  while  he  made 
his  speech  of  greeting. 

"Only  a  few  hours,"  Buffum  replied. 

"Well,  I'm  glad  to  hear  that.  I  should  feel  very 
badly  if  Billy  Buffum  came  to  Washington  and  didn't 
run  in  to  see  me  the  first  thing.  Where  are  you 
stopping?" 

"Down  at  the  Nation." 

"Down  at  the  Nation!  Well,  well,  if  that  ain't 
just  like  Billy  Buffum.  No  airs  about  him.  Fine 
old  hotel,  the  Nation;  none  of  this  newfangled  styl- 


THE    FAKERS  345 

ishness  about  it.  Fine,  plain  old  hotel,  and  good 
home  cooking,  just  like  we  have  back  in  dear  old 
Corliss.  I  always  eat  there  when  I  get  a  chance, 
and  sit  around  with  the  boys.  None  of  these  fash 
ionable  places  for  me.  They  smack  too  much  of 
plutocracy.  I'm  glad  to  greet  you,  Billy.  Run  in 
and  see  me.  Make  yourself  at  home  in  my  office. 
Let  me  know  if  I  can  do  anything  for  you.  Dsop 
around  and  see  the  Missus,  too.  She'll  be  mighty 
glad  to  shake  your  hand.  Sorry  I've  got  an  en 
gagement,  Billy,  but  I  shall  expect  to  see  a  lot  of 
you  while  you  are  here.  Be  sure,  now,  and  come  to 
visit  me,  or  I  shall  feel  very  badly  about  it." 

"All  right,  Senator,"  promised  Buffum,  again  con 
vinced  of  the  sincerity  of  Hicks  as  a  friend  of  the 
people,  "where  are  you  stopping?" 

"Oh,  run  up  to  the  Senate  office  building.  Ask 
for  Senator  Hicks.  They  all  know  me,  you  know." 
And  Hicks  started  away. 

"But,"  said  Buffum,  "I'd  like  to  pay  my  respects 
to  Mrs.  Hicks,  too.  Where  shall  I  find  her?" 

"Well,"  said  Hicks,  "the  fact  is  Billy,  owing  to 
some  friends  of  Mrs.  Hicks  who  are  stopping  at 
the  same  place,  we  are  at  the  Palace  temporarily — 
only  temporarily.  Pretty  soon,  when  she  has  paid 
her  visits — you  know  how  these  women  folks  are — 
we'll  be  right  back  at  the  Nation  or  some  other 
good,  old-fashioned  place,  where  the  boys  like  you 
and  me  are  at  home.  Good-by.  Come  to  see  me!" 

Buffum  watched  Hicks  as  he  swaggered  up  the 
avenue,  and  resolved  to  look  over  the  Palace  Hotel 
before  he  left  in  order  to  tell  the  boys  back  home 
just  how  their  new  Senator  was  living  down  there 
in  Washington. 

Hicks  had  saved  about  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
most  of  which  he  had  carefully  invested  in  standard 
securities.  He  was  naturally  tight-fisted,  almost  to 


346  THE    FAKERS 

the  point  of  meanness,  but  was  always  willing  to 
spend  money  when  he  thought  he  could  advance  him 
self  thereby.  He  had  been  thinking  much  about 
the  campaign  he  must  make  for  election  to  the  Sen 
ate,  for  he  knew  there  would  be  many  candidates, 
and  he  resolved  to  mention  the  subject  to  Mrs. 
Hicks,  and  arrange  for  a  contribution  from  her  for 
tune,  which  he  still  thought  must  be  two  or  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  a  fallacy  of  which  Mrs. 
Hicks  had  never  disabused  his  mind.  He  felt,  as 
her  husband,  he  could  not  protest  just  yet  about 
her  lavish  expenditures,  although  he  writhed  when 
the  bills  came  in,  and  had  worked  earnestly,  but 
without  avail,  on  the  manager  of  the  Palace  to  get 
a  reduction  in  his  room  rates.  However,  he  was 
of  the  opinion,  after  thinking  the  matter  over  at 
length,  he  could  legitimately  ask  his  wife,  for  finan 
cial  aid  for  his  campaign  from  her  large  resources, 
for  it  meant  much  to  her  to  have  him  come  back  to 
Washington  and  more  to  have  him  stay  there. 

After  dinner  that  night  he  approached  the  subject 
carefully.  "My  dear,"  he  said,  "I  must  now  be 
thinking  of  my  campaign  for  election.  Of  course, 
I  am  the  logical  candidate,  and  shall  be  elected,  but 
there  are  certain  things  that  must  be  done." 

Mrs.  Hicks  yawned  and  suggested  he  set  about 
doing  these  things. 

"Oh,  yes,"  he  continued.  "As  I  have  assured  you, 
there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  my  election,  not  a  par 
ticle,  but,  of  course,  others  may  try  to  contest  the 
place  with  me.  In  fact,  I  feel  quite  sure  that  cer 
tain  men  in  our  state,  unmindful  of  many  sacrifices 
for  the  party,  and  regardless  of  my  preeminent 
fitness  for  the  place,  will  seek  to  wrest  this  honor 
from  me.  I  shall  be  obliged  to  spend  some  money — 
legitimately,  of  course,  my  dear,  but  in  certain  neces 
sary  ways." 


THE   FAKERS  347 

"I  trust,  Marmaduke,"  Mrs.  Hicks  said,  "you 
will  not  hesitate  to  make  any  proper  expenditures 
to  insure  your  return." 

"Certainly  not,  my  dear;  certainly  not.     I  merely 
thought  it  the  part  of  wisdom  to  enlighten  you  on 
these  points — we  are  husband  and  wife,  you  know- 
partners,  if  I  may  use  the  word — and  our  interests 
are  identical " 

"Well?"  she  asked  sharply,  turning  to  Hicks  and 
looking  him  straight  in  the  eye.  Hicks  shrank  back. 
He  noticed  a  hard,  a  sort  of  frozen,  expression  in 
her  face  he  had  never  seen  there  before. 

He  hesitated. 

"Well,"  she  said  again,  even  more  sharply  than 
before. 

"The  fact  is,  my  dear,  as  our  interests  are  identi 
cal,  I  was  thinking  it  might  be  agreeable  to  you  to 
give  me  a  check  for,  say  five  thousand  dollars,  or 
some  such  trifling  sum  in  order  to  start  us  on  an 
equal  footing  in  this  matter." 

"What?"  she  demanded.  "You  want  me  to  give 
you  five  thousand  dollars  to  help  pay  your  election 
expenses?" 

"Exactly,"  smiled  Hicks  rubbing  his  hands. 
"That  seems  a  fair  proposition  to  me  and  I  should 
say,  judging  from  my  knowledge  of  these  matters, 
that  I  shall  not  need  more  than  ten  or  fifteen  thou 
sand  dollars  from  you  all  told — a  mere  bagatelle." 

"Senator  Hicks,"  she  said,  and  there  were  icicles 
on  each  word,  "I  am  amazed  at  your  request.  I  see 
no  reason  why  I  should  contribute  to  your  election 
expenses  from  my  personal  fortune,  and  I  shall  not 
do  it.  I — shall — not — give — you — one — cent."  She 
made  an  impressive  pause  between  each  word,  and 
Hicks  froze  in  his  chair. 

"But — my  dear — you  astonish — it's  customary — 
our  identical  interests — you  are  rich — I  shall  take 


348  THE    FAKERS 

you  to  the  White  House  as  the  first  lady  of  the 
land " 

"It  makes  no  difference,"  she  replied.  "The  idea 
of  your  asking  for  money  from  me  is  preposterous — 
preposterous !' 

She  walked  into  her  bedroom,  and  returned  with  a 
sheaf  of  bills  in  her  hands.  "While  we  are  on  this 
subject,"  she  said,  "here  are  the  bills  for  my  cos 
tumes  and  other  incidentals  I  bought  in  New  York. 
Please  pay  them." 

Hicks  reached  a  shaky  hand  for  the  bills.  "How 
much  do  they  amount  to?"  he  asked. 

"Oh,"  she  replied  carelessly,  "two  thousand  dol 
lars,  or  some  such  insignificant  sum." 

"Two  thousand  dollars!"  repeated  Hicks  in  a 
husky  voice.  "Do  you  mean  that  you  spent  two 
thousand  dollars  when  you  went  to  New  York,  and 
want  me  to  pay  it?" 

"Certainly;  why  not?  You  are  my  husband,  aren't 
you?  That  may  not  be  all  of  them.  At  any  rate, 
they  are  yours  to  pay." 

She  yawned  again,  rather  ostentatiously,  Hicks 
thought,  as  he  sat  looking  at  her,  noting  her  perfect 
indifference  to  his  surprised  distress. 

"Good  night,  Marmaduke,"  she  said,  "I'm  very 
tired  and  I  shall  retire." 

She  walked  to  her  bedroom,  entered  and  closed 
the  door  behind  her.  Hicks  sat  for  a  long  time  with 
the  bills  in  his  hands.  He  didn't  try  to  total  them. 
He  didn't  dare,  for  fear  the  shock  would  unnerve 
him  still  more.  It  was  evident  his  wife  did  not  in 
tend  to  help  him.  It  was  further  evident  she  in 
tended  to  spend  as  much  of  his  money  as  she  cared 
to.  He  realized  she  was  cleverer  than  he  was.  He 
tried  to  work  himself  into  a  frame  of  mind  that 
would  give  him  courage  to  go  to  her  door,  knock, 
demand  admittance,  and  tell  her  this  sort  of  thing 


THE   FAKERS  349 

must  stop.  He  started  once  or  twice,  but  stopped 
midway  in  the  floor.  He  was  afraid  of  her.  So, 
about  midnight,  he  went  to  his  own  room,  and  went 
to  bed.  He  was  awake  for  hours  thinking  of  the 
situation.  He  cursed  the  day  when  he  first  saw  Alys 
de  Mountfort  Lester.  The  only  thing  clear  to  him 
was  that  he  must — must — be  elected,  and  he  fancied, 
in  time,  he  could  make  his  wife  look  at  these  matters 
reasonably. 

He  did  not  see  Mrs.  Hicks  in  the  morning,  as  she 
continued  her  practise  of  having  her  breakfast  in 
her  room,  in  order  to  give  her  an  opportunity  to 
prepare  herself  for  the  day,  and  he  ate  his  break 
fast  moodily  and  walked  to  the  Capitol,  turning 
things  over  in  his  mind.  It  would  cost  money  to  be 
elected.  He  didn't  want  to  spend  any  of  his  slow 
accumulations.  He  considered  ways  for  making 
money  in  Washington.  He  knew  that  Senators  and 
Representatives  had  opportunities  for  betraying  the 
people  and  profiting  thereby  by  taking  pay  from  the 
special  interests.  He  wondered  just  what  a  special 
interest  was,  and  how  Senators  met  them,  and  where. 


H 


CHAPTER    XXXIX 

ICKS  paid  the  bills  Mrs.  Hicks  pre 
sented  to  him.  The  total  was  a  little 
more  than  twenty-one  hundred  dollars. 
Every  check  he  signed  cost  him  an 
acute  pang,  and  his  agony  was  not 
lessened  by  the  incidental  bills  Mrs.  Lester  con 
tracted  in  Washington.  As  he  signed  the  checks  that 
were  to  recompense  the  New  York  modistes,  milli 
ners,  boot-makers,  perfumers  and  the  like,  he 
thought  more  and  more  of  the  advantageous  posi 
tion  a  Senator  finds  himself  in  when  he  has  the  un 
limited  resources  of  the  special  interests  to  draw 
upon.  He  had  not  been  approached.  Nobody  had 
offered  him  money  for  anything.  Everybody  seemed 
to  be  in  a  conspiracy  to  take  money  away  from  him. 
He  had  been  enough  on  the  inside  in  his  early  days 
in  Washington  to  know  that  money  was  to  be  se 
cured  by  legislators,  provided  legislators  know  how 
to  secure  it,  but  was  not  familiar  with  the  detail  of 
the  methods  used.  He  thought  over  several  plans, 
but  discarded  them  all,  for  each  one  was  predicated 
on  a  demand  by  him,  and  that  would  be  fatal  to  his 
career.  The  proffer  must  come  from  the  other  side. 
This  was  not  a  new  idea  to  Hicks,  for  he  had  hoped 
there  might  be  an  intimation  from  some  quarter, 
after  his  first  speech,  tending  to  show  him  that  the 
special  interests  feared  him,  and  would  make  it 
worth  his  while  to  keep  quiet.  He  hoped  this,  but, 
in  his  heart,  he  knew  no  such  proffer  would  come, 

350 


THE    FAKERS  351 

for  he  was  as  well  aware  of  the  charlatan  character 
of  that  speech  as  any  other  person  wise  in  politics. 
He  had  made  it  for  home  consumption. 

The  special  interests  ignored  him,  and  he  was 
making  constant  inroads  on  his  bank  account.  One 
day,  while  talking  to  Senator  Lusby,  a  Democrat 
who  had  been  in  public  life  for  many  years  and  was 
rich  because  of  his  political  endeavors,  Hicks  worked 
the  conversation  around  to  money. 

"By  the  way,  Senator,"  he  said,  "I  suppose  many 
of  the  Senators  supplement  their  incomes  by  receiv 
ing  money  from  the  special  interests  and  by  iniqui 
tous  participation  in  the  gambling  hell  of  Wall 
Street." 

"Oh,  I  don't  know,"  Lusby  replied,  looking  at 
Hicks  narrowly.  "I  have  heard  of  such  things,  of 
course,  usually  in  speeches  like  those  you  make,  but 
I  have  very  little  knowledge  of  the  subject." 

"It  must  be  true,"  persisted  Hicks.  "Where  there 
is  so  much  smoke  there  must  be  some  fire.  Merely 
as  a  matter  of  curiosity,  and,  in  order  that  I  may  ex 
pose  these  corrupt  practices,  tell  me,  Senator,  how 
does  a  member  of  this  body  go  about  securing  one 
of  these  criminal  alliances  with  the  plutocrats? 
What  is  the  procedure?" 

"Why,  Hicks,"  Lusby  said,  "never  having  made 
any  such  alliances  I  do  not  know,  and  I  am  not  in 
the  confidence  of  those  who  do  make  them.  It  must 
be  easy  enough,  though." 

"You  alarm  and  astonish  me,  Senator,"  continued 
Hicks,  "when  you  say  such  reprehensible  practices 
are  both  common  and  easy  of  arrangement.  Just 
how,  for  example,  would  a  Senator  ally  himself  with 
a  special  interest  in  order  that  the  alliance  might 
work  to  his  own  profit?" 

Lusby  lighted  a  cigar  and  took  a  turn  about  the 
room. 


352  THE    FAKERS 

"I  should  say,"  he  answered  finally,  "that  if  a 
Senator — a  new  Senator — like  yourself,  for  exam 
ple,"  and  he  looked  straight  at  Hicks,  who  shifted 
uneasily  in  his  chair,  "wanted  to  do  that  sort  of  thing, 
it  would  be  simple  enough.  All  you've  got  to  do, 
Hicks,  is  to  advertise  you  are  in  the  market  and 
somebody  will  make  a  bid." 

"You  misunderstand  me,  Senator,"  protested 
Hicks.  "I,  of  course,  am  merely  seeking  for  in 
formation  for  use  in  my  great  fight  to  drive  the 
vested  interests  out  of  power,  and  with  no  thought 
of  participation.  Advertise,  you  say;  in  what  man 
ner?" 

"Oh,  hell!"  snorted  the  disgusted  Lusby,  "One 
good  way  would  be  for  you  to  put  a  placard  on  say 
ing  that  you  are  for  sale  and  stand  out  in  Statuary 
Hall." 

"My  dear  Senator "  began  Hicks. 

"Excuse  me,"  interrupted  Lusby,  "I  must  go  to  a 
committee  meeting.  I  may  say  to  you,  though,  that 
before  you  can  sell  anything  you  must  invariably 
have  something  to  sell." 

Hicks  thought  that  over.  He  didn't  have  any 
thing  to  sell  but  his  oratory,  and  there  was  no 
market  for  that.  However,  he  concluded  he  might 
as  well  try  again,  and  he  announced  and  delivered 
another  speech,  in  which  he  went  to  even  greater 
lengths  in  his  attacks  on  plutocracy,  and  in  his  fer 
vor  for  the  welfare  of  the  people.  This  speech 
attracted  little  attention.  Most  of  the  Senators 
left  the  chamber  while  Hicks  was  talking,  and  he  re 
ceived  scant  newspaper  mention,  and  that  all  ridi 
cule.  Men  like  Hicks  are  too  common  in  Washing 
ton  to  repeat  for  newspaper  purposes.  They  are 
biggest  when  they  first  come. 

He  was  concerned  about  his  reelection.  Advices 
from  home  had  informed  him  there  would  be  sev- 


THE    FAKERS  353 

eral  candidates  for  the  place.  He  tried  again  to 
make  Mrs.  Hicks  listen  to  reason.  She  was  pur 
suing  her  social  duties,  and  making  new  ones,  with 
out  regard  to  him,  and  utterly  refused  to  part  with 
a  cent. 

He  said  he  must  spend  his  own  money,  and  he 
began  an  elaborate  campaign.  He  had  subscribed 
for  all  the  leading  papers  in  his  state.  He  hired 
some  extra  clerks.  The  business  of  one  of  them 
was  to  read  the  newspapers  carefully  and  clip  out 
all  items  that  might,  by  any  possibility,  give  Hicks 
a  chance  for  a  congratulatory  letter  or  a  letter  of 
sympathy  or  condolence  or  any  other  kind  of  letter. 
He  prepared  seven  form  letters,  which  were  num 
bered.  These  letters  were  about  five  hundred  words 
in  length,  and  detailed  the  unselfish  efforts  Hicks 
was  making,  here  at  the  very  citadel  of  corruption 
and  political  crime,  to  help  remedy  the  abuses 
heaped  on  the  people,  and  drive  their  oppressors 
from  power. 

Every  morning  he  took  his  little  bunch  of  clip 
pings,  and  called  a  stenographer.  He  would  dic 
tate  a  first  paragraph,  like  this: 

"MY  DEAR  MR.  JOXES: 

"I  learn  with  infinite  regret  of  the  death  of  your  lovely 
daughter,  in  the  full  flower  of  her  youth.  My  heart  goes 
out  to  you  in  this  your  hour  of  bereavement.  Of  course, 
I  know  that  no  mere  words  of  mine  can  heal  the  wound, 
but,  so  far  as  words  can  express  it,  I  offer  you  my  sincere 
sympathy,  taking  a  few  moments  from  my  labors  to  send  you 
this  heartfelt  note  ? 

"Got  that?"  Hicks  would  say^  "All  right,  then 
begin  the  next  paragraph  like  this:  'You  have  no 
idea  how  the  forces  of  evil  encompass  me.' 

"Got  that?  Well,  then  add  number  six;  that  will 
fit  in  there." 


354  THE   FAKERS 

And  the  stenographer  would  write  the  first  para 
graphs  and  join  form  number  six,  and  Hicks  would 
sign  "Faithfully,  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  United 
States  Senator,"  and  frank  the  letter  to  the  bereaved 
parent.  He  saw  to  it  that  all  letters  appeared  to 
be  individual  letters,  and  he  sent  them  out  by  the 
score,  to  all  parts  of  the  state,  spreading  his  con 
gratulations,  his  condolences,  his  everything  else  he 
could  work  into  an  excuse  for  a  letter  over  all  the 
state,  combined  in  each  instance  with  a  few  kind 
words  for  himself  in  the  provided  form  letters. 

He  had  McGinnis  and  his  other  labor  friends 
busy  getting  "unsolicited"  endorsements  for  him 
from  labor  organizations;  started  farmer  friends 
out  to  round  up  granges  and  other  organizations  of 
farmers;  had  his  pastor  employed  in  securing  "un 
solicited"  church  and  church  organization  recom 
mendations  for  him;  enlisted  old  ladies  of  Rextown 
to  secure  the  approval  of  the  Colonial  Dames,  and 
the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  and 
the  rest;  literally  buried  the  leading  members  of  the 
G.  A.  R.  with  documents  and  seeds  in  the  hope  of 
getting  the  old  soldiers'  support;  made  several  pro 
hibition  speeches  in  churches  in  Washington,  and 
had  a  pamphlet  printed  containing  them  which  he 
sent  to  all  prohibition  leaders  and  workers;  joined 
the  anti-saloon  league;  endorsed  woman  suffrage  in 
a  ringing  pronunciamento,  and  had  that  circulated, 
also;  and  embarked  on  a  crusade  to  drive  the  sa 
loons  out  of  Washington,  the  Nation's  Capital, 
which,  he  said,  should  be  a  model  city. 

He  side-stepped  a  similar  movement  in  Rextown, 
when  his  support  was  asked,  saying  the  conditions 
were  dissimilar,  as  Rextown  had  a  large  working 
population  which  thought  differently  on  this  matter, 
so  that  it  deserved  and  must  receive  mature  con 
sideration  from  him.  He  said  he  wanted  to  be  on 


THE    FAKERS  355 

the  ground  when  that  movement  was  carried  on, 
and  advised  delay  for  a  time  until  he  could  study  the 
situation.  But  he  was  firm  in  his  determination  to 
make  Washington  a  model  city,  for  he  needed  no 
votes  there. 

He  broke  into  the  newspapers  whenever  he  could, 
was  insensible  to  rebuffs  when  the  frequent  arti 
cles  about  himself  he  sent  to  the  correspondents  were 
returned  to  him,  or  not  used,  and  kept  himself  con 
stantly  occupied  with  the  one  object  of  securing  elec 
tion. 

Congress  was  due  to  adjourn  in  midsummer. 
Hicks  made  several  more  speeches,  all  of  the  same 
tenor,  flooded  his  state  newspapers  with  extracts 
therefrom,  and  increased  the  number  of  his  clerks 
until  he  had  half  a  dozen  working  on  his  advertising 
propaganda.  He  early  learned  the  efficiency  of  the 
Congressional  frank,  and  included  much  useful  ma 
terial  for  self-exploitation  in  his  speeches  and  placed 
more  "by  request"  in  the  Congressional  Record. 
This  stuff  he  franked  out  as  "Part  of  the  Congres 
sional  Record"  to  many  voters  in  the  state,  for  he 
had  secured  city  and  county  directories  from  various 
sections  and  used  the  names  in  them.  His  money 
was  melting  rapidly,  but  Mrs.  Hicks  remained  ob 
durate.  Also,  she  continued  to  be  most  expensive. 
Her  gowns  were  subject  of  much  newspaper  descrip 
tions  furnished  by  herself.  She  went  to  New  York 
again  and  spent  another  five  hundred  dollars,  which 
Hicks  had  to  pay.  He  tried  to  argue  with  her,  but 
she  would  not  discuss  the  matter.  She  gave  him 
the  bills  as  they  came  in,  told  him  to  pay  them  and 
let  it  go  at  that. 

They  lived  together,  but  had  little  in  common. 
Mrs.  Hicks  was  active  in  such  society  as  she  could 
push  into,  and  displayed  herself  in  the  hotel  nightly, 
always  decorous,  but  always  striking  in  appearance. 


356  THE    FAKERS 

Hicks  admired  her,  and  clung  to  the  thought  that, 
after  he  was  elected,  he  and  she  would  have  an  un 
derstanding.  She  was  still  a  wonderful  woman  to 
him,  and  her  new  costumes  and  her  new  activities 
infatuated  him  even  more  as  time  passed.  He  went 
with  her  whenever  she  would  allow  him  to,  and  ap 
propriated  for  himself  as  much  of  her  admiration 
as  he  could.  She  was  much  interested  in  his  cam 
paign  for  election,  and  urged  him  to  greater  efforts. 
It  was  imperative,  she  said,  reminding  him  he  had 
promised  her,  when  he  had  proposed  to  her,  not  only 
to  remain  indefinitely  in  the  Senate,  but  to  achieve 
the  Presidency,  and  she  held  him  to  his  word. 


H 


CHAPTER    XL 

ICKS  had  been  placed  on  several  of  the 
unimportant  committees  of  the  Senate, 
but  he  paid  no  attention  to  his  duties. 
His  whole  concern  was  to  secure  a 
nomination  and  election.  He  was 
merely  a  filler-in  as  he  stood,  and  his  colleagues  had 
slight  interest  in  him.  They  had  seen  many  other 
men  come  to  the  Senate,  by  appointment  by  Gover 
nors,  to  fill  vacancies,  some  serving  for  not  more 
than  thirty  days,  and  the  regularly-elected  six-year 
men  considered  these  as  interlopers,  and  did  not  take 
them  into  the  inner  senatorial  circle.  They  were  all 
polite  to  him,  for  they  did  not  go  to  the  trouble 
of  analyzing  Hicks,  and  were  indifferent  as  to 
whether  he  believed,  or  only  pretended  to  believe, 
what  he  talked  about. 

The  general  opinion  of  Hicks  was  expressed  by 
one  caustic  old  statesman  who  said,  after  a  cursory 
examination:  "If  he  had  a  little  more  brains  he'd 
be  an  ordinary  damn  fool,"  but  that  was  for  cloak 
room  consumption  only.  As  some  one  said,  Hicks 
was  a  Senator,  with  a  vote  that  might  be  useful, 
and,  also,  he  might  come  back.  Such  things  had 
been  known.  There  were  several  Senators  on  the 
roll,  at  that  time,  who  were  even  more  demagogi 
cal  than  Hicks.  So  they  were  scrupulously  courte 
ous  to  him,  and  took  no  chances  of  offending  him  for 
fear  he  might  be  elected  regularly,  and  be  there  to 
vex  them  when  they  needed  him.  While  they  did 

357 


358  THE    FAKERS 

not  take  him  in  they  did  not  exactly  leave  him  out 
side. 

Hicks's  mental  attitude  began  to  change  about  two 
months  after  he  arrived  in  Washington.  In  Rex- 
town  he  was  playing  a  well-defined  game,  and  was 
under  no  personal  delusions  as  to  his  part  as  a  player 
in  it.  He  had  gone  out  from  a  reactionary  begin 
ning  to  take  a  radical  stand,  not  because  he  was  a 
radical,  but  because  he  thought  he  could  best  ad 
vance  himself  as  a  radical.  He  missed  the  steady 
ing  influence  of  Senator  Paxton,  who  had  been  called 
away  and  was  absent  for  a  long  time.  Left  to  him 
self,  Hicks  began  to  consider  himself  what  he  pre 
tended  to  be.  The  change  came  gradually,  but  it 
came  surely.  There  were  times  when  he  laughed 
at  himself  for  pretending  to  himself,  but  these  peri 
ods  became  less  and  less  frequent,  and,  presently, 
Senator  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks  had  convinced  him 
self  he  was  a  true  friend  of  the  people,  and  that  he 
meant  everything  he  said. 

Paxton  returned.  "How's  Hicks  getting  on?"  he 
asked  Madden. 

"Getting  on?"  repeated  Madden.  "Why,  he's 
getting  impossible.  He's  hypnotized  himself  into 
thinking  he  means  what  he  says.  Darned  if  he 
wasn't  in  here  the  other  day  handing  out  that  guff 
of  his  to  me  as  if  he  thought  it  was  genuine,  and  as 
if  he  thought  I  must  accept  it  as  such.  He's  got 
the  worst  case  of  swelled  head  I  have  seen  in  a  long 
time,  and  if  you  don't  compress  it  to  normal,  he's 
gone.  I  don't  mind  a  man  faking  the  public,  but 
when  he  begins  faking  himself  it's  the  limit." 

"I'm  not  surprised,"  said  Paxton.  "It's  a  big 
jump  from  a  law  office  in  Rextown  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  even  if  it  comes  by  a  measly  ad  interim 
appointment.  I'll  look  him  over  and  see  what  can 
be  done  about  it." 


THE    FAKERS  359 

The  Senator  invited  Hicks  to  luncheon  and  sug 
gested  they  have  it  in  his  room,  where  they  might 
be  undisturbed.  Hicks  came  in  about  half-past  one, 
and  found  Paxton  waiting  for  him. 

"Well,  Tommie,"  the  Senator  called  to  him,  "how 
are  things  moving?" 

Hicks  stiffened.  "Senator  Paxton,"  he  replied, 
"I  wish  you  wouldn't  call  me  Tommie.  I'm  a  Sena 
tor,  you  know,  the  same  as  you  are,  and  I  resent  the 
patronizing  that  greeting  infers." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,"  Paxton  said  gravely.  "I 
was  in  error.  Won't  you  be  seated,  Senator?  I 
want  to  have  a  talk  with  you." 

"On  some  legislative  matter?"  asked  Hicks. 

"No,  on  personal  matters." 

"Of  course,"  began  Hicks,  "I  shall  be  glad  to  con 
fer  with  you  on  any  matter  personal  to  yourself,  as 
an  old  friend,  but  if  what  you  have  in  mind  refers  in 
any  way  to  the  past  I  must  refuse.  I  have  changed 
my  viewpoint,  Senator  Paxton.  What  began  as  an 
adventure  has  changed  to  a  crusade.  I  have  a  mis 
sion,  and  that  mission  is  to  redeem  the  pledges  I 
made  to  the  people,  and  thought  when  I  first  began 
making  those  pledges  I  made  them  simply  for  my 
~v>wn  aggrandizement.  I  have  seen  a  light.  Instead 
of  using  the  people  to  advance  myself,  I  have  deter 
mined  to  use  myself  to  advance  the  people.  I  trust 
I  make  myself  clear." 

"You  do,"  Paxton  answered,  "clearer  than  you 
imagine,  even.  Pray  forgive  me  for  thinking  you 
had  retained  your  perspective.  Of  course,  I  was 
wrong.  So  let's  say  no  more  about  it.  Sit  down 
and  have  a  bite." 

Hicks  ate  uncomfortably.  They  talked  of  minor 
Senatorial  matters,  and  general  politics,  discussed 
a  few  of  the  policies  of  the  President  and  Hicks 
left  as  soon  as  he  could  get  away. 


360  THE    FAKERS 

"You're  right,  Madden,"  Paxton  said  to  his  secre 
tary.  "He's  all  swelled  up  like  a  poisoned  pup." 

"Did  you  tell  him  about  himself?"  asked  Madden. 

"No,  it  isn't  time.  He'll  harm  nobody  yet 
a  while,  and  I  think  we  shall  need  him  presently." 

The  need  came  quickly.  A  law  providing  for 
a  drastic  supplementary  power  for  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  was  pending,  and  there  had 
been  a  great  public  clamor  for  it  and  against  the 
railroads.  The  railroads  held  this  added  power 
would  be  disastrous  to  their  freedom  of  operation, 
for  it  virtually  placed  their  affairs  in  the  hands  of 
the  commission.  They  called  on  all  their  friends 
in  the  Senate  to  defeat  it.  Division  was  not  on 
party  lines.  Paxton,  who  was  handling  the  rail 
road  side,  had  made  exceedingly  careful  polls.  He 
needed  three  votes.  Two  of  these  he  secured  by 
means  best  known  to  himself,  and  Lusby  advised 
him  to  see  Hicks  and  arrange  for  a  money  payment 
to  him  for  his  vote.  Hicks  had  not  taken  a  public 
position  on  the  matter  largely  because  he  was  too 
busy  with  his  own  affairs,  but  he  knew  there  was  a 
certain  popular  demand  for  it,  and  that  the  corpora 
tions  approved  it  and  thought  privately,  that  he 
would  vote  for  it. 

"I  know  you  can  get  him,"  said  Lusby.  "He 
made  a  talk  to  me  a  week  after  he  got  here  that 
convinced  me  he  is  willing  to  be  compensated  for 
any  service  he  can  render  and  not  get  caught  at. 
You've  got  a  big  war  chest.  Let  him  dip  into  it." 

Paxton  was  dubious.  He  had  thought  a  great 
deal  over  his  talk  with  Hicks  when  Hicks  had  de 
clared  himself  as  converted  to  the  cause  he  had  been 
preaching  so  many  years.  Paxton  held  the  view 
that  Hicks,  impressed  by  his  own  importance,  had 
hypnotized  himself  into  thinking  that  what  he  said 
was  the  truth  from  his  heart. 


THE    FAKERS  361 

But  Paxton  needed  that  vote.  Every  other  source 
had  been  canvassed  with  close  scrutiny,  and  all  pos 
sible  influences  had  been  brought  to  bear.  He  must 
have  Hicks. 

Two  days  before  the  time  set  for  taking  the  vote, 
Senator  Paxton  went  to  Hicks  and  said:  "Senator, 
may  I  have  a  talk  with  you?" 

"Certainly,  Senator.     What  is  it?" 

"Come  down  to  my  office  if  you  will  be  so  kind." 

They  went  out  together.  As  they  entered  the 
inner  room,  Paxton  walking  behind  Hicks,  closed 
and  locked  the  door. 

"Hicks,"  he  said,  without  any  polite  preliminaries, 
"you  and  I  must  have  a  showdown." 

Hicks  was  uneasy.  Notwithstanding  his  inflated 
opinion  of  himself  this  man  had  once  been  his  em 
ployer  and  had  been  his  benefactor. 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"I  mean  that  all  time  for  piffle  and  platitudes  is 
past.  I  have  come  to  a  point  when  I  must  speak 
plainly  to  you,  and  make  a  demand  on  you.  In 
short,  Hicks,  I  want  you  to  vote  against  that  Inter 
state  Commerce  Bill." 

"But,  Senator "  Hicks  began. 

"But  nothing!  Now,  listen,  Hicks:  You  were 
a  bright  young  man  working  here  for  me.  I 
noticed  your  brightness  and  your  adaptability,  and 
I  sent  you  out  to  Rextown,  and  gave  you  the  work 
ing  plans  of  a  political  propaganda,  that  eventually 
made  you  a  Senator.  I  helped  finance  your  earlier 
years.  I  put  you  in  the  way  of  this  prominence 
you  have  gained.  I  have  advised  you.  Of  course, 
it  was  a  game  of  mine,  but  you  played  it  willingly, 
and  you  certainly  are  under  some  obligations  to 
me.  I  want  you  to  vote  against  this  bill.  It  is 
vital  to  me.  You  can  do  it,  for  plenty  of  other 
Democrats  intend  to  vote  against  it,  and  there  will 


362  THE   FAKERS 

be  absolutely  nothing  unusual  in  the  matter.  Will 
you  do  it?" 

"No,"  Hicks  replied,  looking  Paxton  squarely  in 
the  eyes.  "I  do  not  recognize  your  right  to  make 
this  demand  on  me.  Some  of  the  things  you  have 
said  are  true,  but  you  have  overlooked  the  main 
point.  That  is  that  insincere  as  I  was  when  I  be 
gan  my  political  career  I  have  become  sincere.  I 
am  now  for  the  people,  truly,  and  at  heart.  I  have 
seen  the  error  of  my  ways.  I  have  decided  to  vote 
against  this  bill,  and  you  have  no  right  to  try  to 
influence  my  conscientious  determination,  and  the 
prompting  of  my  sense  of  duty  and  my  love  for 
the  people  in  this  way.  I  won't  vote  for  the  bill. 
I'll  vote  against  it." 

"Very  well,"  Paxton  answered,  calmly.  "If  you 
refused  to  be  influenced  by  decency,  gratitude  and 
a  real  obligation  to  me,  the  man  who  has  been  your 
best  friend,  let  me  put  it  another  way.  You  are  a 
candidate  for  election  to  the  Senate." 

"I  haven't  announced  my  candidacy  as  yet." 

"I  know,  but  you  will.  Now,  then,  Hicks,  that 
fight  will  cost  a  good-sized  sum.  Vote  for  this 
bill  and  I'll  see  to  it  that  you  will  have  all  the  money 
you  can  use." 

Hicks  jumped  from  his  chair:  "Do  you  mean 
to  bribe  me?"  he  shouted. 

Paxton  laughed.  "No,"  he  replied.  "I  don't 
mean  to  bribe  you.  All  I  offer  is  legitimate  cam 
paign  money  for  a  legitimate  campaign,  and  all  I 
ask  in  return  is  a  vote  for  this  bill.  There  is  no 
bribery  about  it." 

Hicks  walked  over  to  the  door  and  turned  the 
handle. 

"It's  locked,"  he  said,  facing  Paxton. 

"Yes  " 

"Unlock  it." 


THE    FAKERS  363 

"Not  until  you  tell  me  what  you  intend  to  do. 
I  have  a  right  to  know,  notwithstanding  your  recent 
assumption  of  the  Messiah  role." 

"Open  it,"  Hicks  demanded.  "I'll  have  to  think 
this  thing  over." 

Paxton  hurried  to  the  door.  "In  that  case,"  he 
said,  "I'll  open  it  gladly.  The  vote  is  on  Tuesday 
afternoon  at  four  o'clock." 

"Good-by,"  said  Hicks,  and  walked  out. 

Hicks  spent  all  that  afternoon  and  evening  talk 
ing  about  the  proposed  railroad  legislation.  He 
consulted  various  Senators.  They  told  him  there 
was  a  considerable  public  interest  in  the  bill,  and 
that  various  influential  newspapers  demanded  it. 
Still,  the  public  clamor  was  not  so  great,  owing  to 
the  skill  with  which  the  bill  had  been  handled  by 
Paxton,  as  to  make  a  vote  against  the  bill  partic 
ularly  dangerous,  and  there  was  ample  ground  for 
objection  on  the  basis  of  the  unconstitutionality  of 
the  measure.  Others  said  it  conferred  too  great 
powers  on  a  subordinate  Government  bureau. 
Others  had  reasons  that  were  not  disclosed.  There 
was  both  a  sincere  and  a  manufactured  sentiment 
in  opposition. 

"It's  simple  enough,"  said  Senator  Lusby  to 
Hicks.  "If  you  want  to  vote  against  the  bill  and 
have  any  apprehensions  of  what  the  folks  in  your 
State  may  say,  vote  against  it  and  assign  a  constitu 
tional  reason.  Assert  it  as  your  deep-seated  con 
viction  that  the  bill  will  be  held  worthless  by  the 
Supreme  Court  on  constitutional  grounds.  There 
will  be  no  come-back  to  that,  and  you'll  get  a  repu 
tation  as  a  student  of  the  Constitution,  for  by  the 
time  the  Supreme  Court  passes  on  the  bill  everybody 
will  have  forgotten  what  it  is  all  about,  and  what 
your  vote  was." 

Enough  of  the  old  Hicks  was  projected  into  the 


364  THE    FAKERS 

consideration  of  his  dilemma  to  cause  Hicks  to 
weigh  Senator  Paxton's  proposition  carefully.  He 
knew  Paxton  was  liberal,  especially  with  the  money 
of  other  people,  and  he  had  no  doubt  he  could  get 
several  thousand  dollars  from  him,  maybe  ten  or 
fifteen,  or,  perhaps,  more.  That  money  might  elect 
him.  It  was  a  great  temptation,  but  there  was  this 
drawback:  If  he  took  the  money  and  was  returned 
he  would  then  be  completely  in  the  power  of  Paxton, 
who  could  use  him  as  he  wished,  and  who  would. 
Hicks  knew  enough  of  Paxton's  methods  to  know 
that  whenever  he  obtained  a  hold  on  any  person  he 
gave  that  person  a  musket  and  a  knapsack  and 
forced  him  to  stand  guard  for  him  continuously. 
Paxton's  control  would  spoil  an  independent  career 
for  himself,  except  so  far  as  money  went,  and  Hicks 
couldn't  convince  himself,  much  as  he  desired  money, 
that  the  place  he  might  assume,  independently,  would 
not  be  of  greater  value  to  him.  Besides,  as  the 
old  Hicks  whispered  in  the  ear  of  the  new  Hicks, 
he  then  could  collect  for  himself  and  be  his  own 
paymaster,  provided  he  came  to  that  view  of  his 
Senatorial  procedure. 

He  had  declared  himself  to  Paxton,  and  felt  that 
Paxton  had  no  hold  on  him,  save,  perhaps,  a  story 
he  might  tell  of  their  early  association.  He  re 
viewed  his  past  career,  and  tried  to  remember 
whether  there  had  been  anything  that  might  hurt 
him  in  the  letters  he  had  written  to  Paxton.  He 
did  not  think  many  of  them  were  at  all  indiscreet, 
even  if  Paxton  had  retained  them.  And,  if  he  had 
retained  them,  how  could  he  use  them?  He  had 
distinctly  tried  to  bribe  Hicks  and  his  word  was  as 
good  as  Paxton's  and  better  out  in  Hicks's  State, 
where  Hicks  could  brand  Paxton  as  identified  with 
the  special  interests  and  claim  he  was  being  perse 
cuted  by  the  reactionaries. 


THE    FAKERS  365 

Finally,  he  convinced  himself  he  was  a  virtuous, 
duty-loving  man,  on  whose  integrity  an  assault  had 
been  made,  and  resolved  to  look  over  the  news 
papers  carefully  to  see  just  what  ones  were  sup 
porting  the  bill  and  what  the  chances  for  advertis 
ing  were  for  Hicks.  By  Monday  he  was  certain 
he  was  sincere,  that  he  had  a  stern  sense  of  duty 
to  the  people  in  the  premises. 

Paxton  said  nothing  more  to  him  until  the  close 
of  the  morning  hour  in  the  Senate  on  Tuesday. 
Then  he  walked  over  to  Hicks's  desk  and  sat  down 
next  to  him.  He  took  a  slip  of  paper,  wrote  on 
it  in  big  figures  "25,000"  and  nothing  else,  and  said, 
shoving  the  paper  across  to  Hicks,  "That,  as  I 
view  it,  is  about  what  a  senatorial  campaign  will 
cost  out  your  way.  My  friends  think  the  same  as 
I  do." 

Hicks  gave  no  sign  he  knew  what  the  figures 
meant.  Paxton  watched  him  narrowly,  but  Hicks 
sat  impassively  for  an  hour  and  listened  to  short 
speeches  for  and  against  the  bill  made  by  various 
Senators  who  desired  to  get  the  last  word  in  the 
Record  defending  or  lauding  their  forthcoming 
action. 

The  galleries  were  crowded.  At  half-past  three 
Hicks  rose  and  left  the  Senate  chamber.  Paxton 
saw  him,  and  hurriedly  sent  for  Madden  and  in 
structed  him  to  keep  watch  of  Hicks  and  bring  him 
in  when  the  bells  rang  for  roll  call. 

Hicks  went  to  the  restaurant,  and  ordered  a 
sandwich  and  a  pot  of  coffee.  He  kept  a  watchful 
eye  on  the  clock,  and  reviewed  his  situation  for  the 
last  time.  Paxton  had  offered  him  $25,000  for  a 
vote  against  the  bill.  It  was  a  great  temptation. 
It  might  elect  him,  but,  knowing  Paxton  as  well 
as  he  did,  and  knowing  his  methods,  Hicks  was  sure 
he  could  not  get  the  money  without  some  sort  of  a 


366  THE    FAKERS 

voucher,  or  some  sort  of  an  obligation  secured  by 
Paxton  that  would  hold  him  in  Paxton's  power. 
Paxton  needed  this  vote,  but  he  never  bought  one 
thing  with  his  money  when  he  could  just  as  well 
buy  two,  and  Hicks  knew  Paxton  would  snare  him 
in  some  way,  and,  if  he  returned,  would  control 
him  by  that  means  as  he  already  had  tried  to  con 
trol  him  through  a  demand  on  his  gratitude. 

He  knew,  too,  he  might  take  the  money  and, 
when  he  came  back,  refuse  to  do  Paxton's  bid 
ding.  That,  he  thought,  would  subject  him  to 
endless  persecution  by  Paxton  and  seriously  hinder 
his  career.  He  reread  a  double-leaded  editorial 
in  the  New  York  World  of  that  morning,  calling 
on  all  Democrats  to  support  the  bill.  If  he  took 
the  money,  and  was  defeated,  it  would  do  him  no 
good,  for  he  could  not  save  it.  He  would  be 
obliged  to  spend  it.  It  wouldn't  hurt  him  any  to 
take  an  active  stand  against  Paxton  and  his  crowd. 
It  would  help,  for  they  were  deep  in  public  dis 
favor;  also,  the  next  Senate  might  be  Democratic, 
and  then  he  could  laugh  at  Paxton. 

Just  at  four  o'clock,  a  bell  rang  sharply  and  in 
sistently. 

"It's  the  vote!"  thought  Hicks,  and  he  went  up 
to  the  Senate  floor. 

At  the  same  moment  bells  jangled  in  all  parts  of 
the  Senate  wing  of  the  Capitol. 

"Vote!"  cried  the  press  gallery  attendants,  and 
the  correspondents  trooped  in,  with  long  tally  sheets 
in  their  hands. 

"Vote !"  echoed  in  every  committee-room. 

Senators  who  were  out  of  the  chamber  hurried  to 
their  seats,  but  Hicks,  shadowed  by  Madden,  walked 
up  to  the  green  braid  doors  on  the  Democratic  side 
and  chatted  with  Colonel  Jimmie  Edwards,  the 
aged  doorkeeper. 


THE    FAKERS  367 

The  roll-call  began.  Each  Senator  kept  tab. 
Various  Senators  announced  pairs.  The  clerk  called 
the  names  raucously.  The  H's  were  reached. 

"Mr.  Hicks,"  shouted  the  clerk.  There  was  no 
reply. 

"Mr.  Hicks,"  the  clerk  repeated.  Hicks  did  not 
respond. 

Paxton  raised  himself  in  his  seat,  cursing  Madden 
to  himself  for  not  bringing  Hicks  in.  After  the 
call  had  proceeded  a  few  names  further,  the  side 
doors  on  the  Democratic  side  swung  open.  Hicks 
came  in  and  walked  to  the  head  of  the  center  aisle, 
where  he  stood  waiting. 

"Ha,"  said  Paxton,  much  relieved,  "he  only 
wants  to  attract  a  little  attention  to  himself  by 
voting  conspicuously." 

The  roll-call  was  finished.  Paxton's  tab  showed 
forty-two  for  and  forty-one  against.  Hicks's  vote 
would  give  him  a  tie,  and  the  Vice-President  would 
have  the  casting  vote.  The  Vice-President  would 
vote  for  Paxton,  and  although  the  squeak  would 
be  a  narrow  one,  the  bill  would  be  beaten. 

As  the  clerk  called  the  last  name  on  the  list 
Hicks  stepped  out  into  the  center  aisle. 

"Mr.  Pres-o-dunt!"  he  said. 

There  was  an  instant  hush.  "Mr.  Hicks,"  the 
clerk  called. 

"Aye !"  shouted  Hicks,  and  the  galleries  burst 
into  applause.  Paxton  grew  red  and  then  white. 
Hicks  stood  in  the  aisle  until  the  vote  was  an 
nounced  forty-three  ayes  to  forty-one  nays,  and  the 
journal  clerk  recorded  that  detail  and  added,  as 
journal  clerks  have  done  since  Congress  began: 
"And  so  the  bill  was  lost." 

A  good  many  of  those  in  favor  of  the  bill  con 
gratulated  him.  The  Senate  immediately  proceeded 
to  other  business.  Hicks  stood  about  until  he  had 


368  THE    FAKERS 

shaken  every  admiring  hand  proffered  and  went  back 
to  his  seat. 

Paxton  came  over.     His  face  was  stern  and  set. 

"Damn  you,  Hicks!"  he  said.  "What  did  you 
do  that  for?" 

"I  voted  according  to  the  dictates  of  my  con 
science,"  Hicks  replied,  looking  squarely  at  Paxton. 

"You  did,"  sneered  Paxton.  "You  did,  eh? 
Well,  that  conscience  is  too  sensitive  to  be  exposed 
here.  I'll  make  it  my  business  to  see  that  both 
you  and  your  conscience  are  retired  to  private  life." 


CHAPTER    XLI 

HICKS  received  a  good  deal  of  commen 
dation  from  the  progressive  press  for 
his  vote,  and  was  well  pleased.      He 
worried  somewhat  about  what  Paxton 
might  do  to  him,  but  Paxton,  beyond  a 
refusal  to  speak  to  Hicks,  gave  no  further  sign  of  his 
anger.     Ten  days  before  Congress  adjourned  Hicks 
put  out  the  formal  announcement  of  his  candidacy  to 
succeed  himself.     He  had  sent  it  to  every  paper  in 
the  State  with  a  release  date,  and  on  that  release 
date  he  called  in  the  correspondents  and  gave  them 
an  interview.     He  said  he  was  a  candidate  to  suc 
ceed  himself,  that  he  would  make  an  active  canvass 
of    the    State,    returning    home    immediately    after 
the  adjournment  of  Congress,  that  he  had  no  doubts 
of  his  election,  and  that  he  would  continue  in  the 
future,  as  in  the  past,  to  be  the  true  and  devoted 
friend  of  the  common  people. 

The  politicians  at  Yorkville  and  Rextown  and 
elsewhere  in  the  State,  had  been  waiting  for  the 
announcement  by  Hicks.  They  were  certain  it  was 
coming,  but  until  it  did  come  they  were  blocked,  in 
a  way,  for  other  candidacies  hinged  both  geo 
graphically  and  politically  on  Hicks.  He  knew 
this,  and  that  is  why  he  had  delayed  in  announc 
ing  himself.  A  considerable  amount  of  secret  cam 
paigning  had  been  done,  and  four  other  Demo 
crats  \vere  ready  to  enter  the  field,  but  none  of  these 
underestimated  the  strength  Hicks  had  with  a  cer- 

369 


370  THE    FAKERS 

tain  element  of  the  population,  and  each  thought 
he  might  appropriate  this  strength,  or  some  of  it, 
provided  the  miraculous  happened  and  Hicks  de 
cided  he  would  retire  to  private  life. 

Hicks  cleared  the  air  with  his  manifesto.  The 
others  were  in  the  running  within  twenty-four  hours 
after  he  had  specifically  declared  himself.  One 
candidate  was  Enos  G.  Mulford,  the  man  Flicks  had 
deserted  for  Dawson  at  the  State  convention,  and 
thereby  gained  his  Senatorship ;  another  was  Henry 
H.  Broughton,  a  former  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  the  other  two  were  lawyers  of  some 
prominence  in  their  sections,  but  of  no  state-wide 
reputation.  Rollins  did  not  enter.  It  was  con 
ceded  the  contest  would  be  between  Hicks,  Mul 
ford  and  Broughton.  This  was  before  the  adop 
tion  of  the  constitutional  amendment  providing  for 
the  direct  election  of  Senators,  but  the  State  had 
a  new  law  effective  June  first  which  compelled  can 
didates  for  the  Senate  to  go  before  the  primaries, 
binding  the  Legislature  to  the  support  of  the  man 
who,  after  the  primaries  had  selected  the  candidates 
of  the  opposing  parties  for  the  place,  should  receive 
the  highest  vote  at  the  general  election  in  November. 
The  primaries  were  to  be  held  on  September  twenty- 
fourth.  This  meant  a  primary  campaign  of  six 
or  seven  weeks  from  the  time  the  candidates  were 
definitely  in  the  field. 

Hicks  carefully  tabulated  the  comment  on  his 
announcement.  All  in  all,  he  was  fairly  well  re 
ceived  by  the  press  of  his  own  party,  although  he 
was  ridiculed  by  the  Republican  papers.  It  was 
conceded  the  Republican  aspirant  would  have  little 
chance,  as  the  state  of  public  opinion  was  still  ex 
tremely  adverse  to  all  Republicans  and  their  party. 
Aside  from  that,  the  normal  Republican  vote  of  the 
State  would  be  split  by  a  Progressive  Republican  can- 


THE   FAKERS  371 

didate,  and  a  stand-pat  Republican,  both  in  the  pri 
maries  and  in  the  general  election,  and  it  was  as 
certain  as  anything  political  can  be  certain,  the 
Democrat  who  carried  the  primaries  would  be  the 
next  Senator. 

Hicks  based  his  hope  on  the  response  he  received 
from  the  people,  whom  he  had  assiduously  culti 
vated  for  so  many  years.  He  was  strong  with  the 
people.  They  had  taken  him  at  his  own  valuation 
of  himself,  had  believed  in  his  protestations  of  his 
fervor  in  their  cause.  He  had  skilfully  prepared 
every  shred  of  commendation  he  had  received,  from 
any  source.  He  had  taken  sentences  from  ela 
borately  sarcastic  articles  about  himself,  sentences 
that,  separated  from  the  context,  appeared  to  praise 
him  in  the  highest  terms,  and  had  arranged  them, 
giving  the  names  of  the  authors,  into  culminative 
peans  of  praise.  He  had  printed  thousands  of 
copies  of  his  speeches,  and  had  reprinted  the  matter 
useful  to  his  candidacy  he  had  had  inserted  in  the 
Congressional  Record,  and  made  preparations  to 
flood  the  State  with  this  in  franked  envelopes.  He 
revised  his  mailing  lists,  and  sent  several  of  his  clerks 
and  stenographers  to  Rextown. 

He  arranged  to  convert  most  of  his  securities  into 
cash,  and  resolved  to  invest  all  he  had  in  the  enter 
prise.  If  he  lost  he  would  be  without  money,  but 
if  he  won  the  winning  would  be  worth  the  price. 
It  was  a  bet,  and  Hicks  made  it. 

Congress  drew  to  a  clamorous  close.  Hicks 
sought  for  a  chance  to  exploit  himself  further,  but 
the  Democratic  leader  in  the  Senate  sternly  repressed 
him,  telling  him  serious  business  was  at  hand,  and 
there  was  no  time  for  sounding  the  Hicks  tom-tom. 
He  did  push  himself  into  debates  on  pending  meas 
ures,  but  as  he  had  paid  no  attention  to  legisla 
tion  the  men  who  were  looking  after  that  legisla- 


372  THE    FAKERS 

tlon  wound  him  up  so  sharply  and  so  decisively  he 
soon  abandoned  that  route  to  further  fame.  On 
the  last  night  of  the  session  he  secured  the  floor 
and  made  a  twenty-minute  speech  for  use  in  his 
campaign,  and  decided  he  had  done  all  that  could 
be  done  in  that  direction. 

Already  he  had  spent  a  good  deal  of  money. 
His  efforts  to  induce  Mrs.  Hicks  to  help  him  had 
been  unavailing,  but  he  made  one  last  effort  to  in 
terest  his  wife  in  the  financing  of  the  campaign 
while  they  were  returning  to  Rextown. 

"Please,  Senator,"  she  said,  udo  not  refer  to 
that  subject  again.  I  have  not  the  slightest  in 
tention  of  giving  you  any  money  for  your  campaign. 
I  do  consider  that  a  part  of  my  obligation  to  you. 
You  have  plenty  of  resources.  You  have  frequently 
told  me  that.  Why  should  I  give  you  money  when 
you  have  a  fortune  of  your  own?  I  would  regret 
to  think  you  married  me  for  my  money,  but  I  shall 
be  forced  to  conclude  that  was  the  case  if  you 
continue  these  overtures." 

Hicks  protested  volubly  he  married  her  because 
he  loved  her.  He  said  he  merely  thought  she  might 
be  interested  enough  in  his  success  to  desire  to  parti 
cipate  in  the  necessary  expenses  he  must  incur  to 
bring  about  that  success — which  he  wanted  not  for 
himself  but  for  her — and  he  promised  he  would  not 
refer  to  the  matter  again. 

Nor  did  he,  but  he  thought,  if  he  did  win,  he 
would — he  didn't  know  what  he  would  do,  but  it 
would  be  something  exemplary.  He  turned  the 
offices  of  Hicks,  Chittlings  and  Wilson  into  a  head 
quarters,  enlisted  McGinnis,  Mortimer  and  others 
as  his  staff,  set  his  clerks  and  stenographers  to  their 
tasks,  and  began  work  in  earnest.  He  wanted  to  go 
back  to  Mrs.  Hungerford's,  but  Mrs.  Hicks  would 
not  hear  of  it.  Instead,  she  demanded,  in  fact, 


THE   FAKERS  373 

selected  herself,  what  was  known  as  the  "bridal 
suite"  in  the  Metropolis  Hotel,  an  ornate  parlor 
and  bedroom  and  bath  for  herself,  and  engaged  an 
adjoining  room  for  Hicks. 

Hicks  went  to  various  places  in  August  and  made 
speeches.  Beginning  on  September  first  he  stumped 
the  State  from  end  to  end.  Mrs.  Hicks  went  with 
him,  for  a  few  days  at  a  time,  and  stood  on  the 
platform  when  he  spoke.  She  had  read  of  the  po 
litical  campaigning  done  by  Lady  Cornwallis  West, 
and  other  women  of  high  degree,  in  England,  and 
she  imitated  them  so  far  as  she  was  able.  She  was 
amiable  and  affable  to  his  supporters,  wore  her  most 
fetching  tailored  costumes,  and  her  most  becoming 
hats,  but  did  not  appear  except  in  the  cities.  Hicks 
was  glad  of  that.  He  didn't  know  how  the  plain 
people  in  the  rural  districts  might  look  on  a  can 
didate  who  had  so  stylish  and  so  aristocratic  a 
wife,  and  when  she  refused  to  go  into  the  country 
he  didn't  urge  her.  She  said  she  couldn't  think  of 
mingling  with  the  horny-handed  sons  of  toil,  much 
as  she  desired  Hicks's  success,  and  he  agreed  her 
attitude  was  wise,  but  he  put  on  his  oldest  suit  of 
clothes,  his  slouch  hat,  brushed  up  his  stock  of  plain- 
people  talk,  shifted  to  the  vernacular  and  went  out 
and  mingled  with  them  at  every  cross-roads  where 
he  could  gather  a  dozen  or  so  for  mingling  purposes. 
McGinnis  and  Mortimer  were  good  routine  poli 
ticians  and  they  kept  things  running  at  headquarters, 
and  Hicks  appeared  in  every  county  at  least  once, 
and  in  most  of  the  counties  half  a  dozen  times. 

Mulford  and  Broughton  were  campaigning,  too; 
the  other  candidates  were  doing  what  they  could 
and  the  State  was  in  a  ding-dong  of  politics  for  the 
first  three  weeks  of  September.  Mulford  and 
Broughton  made  guarded  references  to  the  light 
ness  of  weight  of  Hicks,  and  laughed  at  his  pre- 


374  THE   FAKERS 

tensions,  but  Hicks  paid  no  attention  to  them  and 
pounded  away  unceasingly  on  his  own  love  for  the 
people,  his  sincerity  in  their  cause,  and  promised 
immediate  and  sweeping  reforms  of  every  nature, 
including  the  extension  of  agricultural  credits,  the 
emancipation  of  the  farmers  from  the  rule  of  the 
bosses,  winding  up  each  speech  with  a  flowing  pic 
ture  of  the  millennium  he  would  bring  about  if  he 
were  returned.  Mulford  challenged  Hicks  to  a 
debate  on  the  issues  of  the  day,  but  Hicks  side 
stepped  so  successfully  the  end  of  the  campaign 
came  without  loss  of  prestige  to  himself  for  his 
refusal  to  go  on  the  platform  with  the  able  Mul 
ford.  Rollins  was  in  the  East,  and,  apparently, 
doing  nothing. 


CHAPTER   XLII 

McGiNNis   and  Mortimer  had  arranged 
a  grand  campaign-closing  meeting  for 
Rextown  on  the  Friday  night  before 
the  primaries,  to  be  held  on  the  fol 
lowing  Tuesday.   Hicks  was  to  be  the 
speaker.     They  engaged  the  rink,  which  would  hold 
about  three  thousand  people,  hired  a  band,  billed 
the  town,  hung  out  banners,  and  bought  advertising 
space  liberally  in  the  newspapers. 

Rollins,  who  had  returned  a  few  days  before, 
was  invited  to  be  one  of  the  vice-presidents  of  the 
meeting,  and  accepted. 

The  night  came.  The  band  blared  outside  the 
rink  for  an  hour.  Mortimer  and  McGinnis  had 
red  fire  burned  and  fireworks  exploded  in  the  street, 
and  at  eight  o'clock  the  big  rink  was  jammed  with 
people.  Every  prominent  Democrat  in  that  section 
had  been  asked  to  be  an  honorary  vice-president, 
and  many  of  them  were  on  the  platform,  sitting  in 
self-conscious  rows.  The  chairman  of  the  meeting 
was  Lafferty,  a  labor  State  senator  whom  Hicks 
had  helped  elect.  Chairs  had  been  reserved  for 
Hicks  at  the  right  of  the  small  table  used  by  the 
presiding  officer,  and  at  a  quarter-past  eight,  while 
the  band,  which  had  left  the  street  and  had  gone 
to  the  gallery,  was  playing  a  lively  tune  and  the 
younger  men  and  the  boys  were  whistling  and  stamp 
ing  with  their  feet  and  shouting:  "Hicks!  Hicks! 
Hicks!"  the  Senator  came  in  escorting  Mrs.  Hicks. 

375 


376  THE   FAKERS 

Mortimer  had  arranged  a  signal  with  the  leader 
of  the  band.  He  stepped  forward  on  the  platform, 
waved  his  handkerchief,  and  the  band  stopped  the 
quickstep,  and  immediately  began  "America." 

"All  up!"  shouted  Mortimer  and  McGinnis. 

The  people  stood  while  the  band  played.  A  few 
tried  to  sing  the  words.  As  the  band  finished  vari 
ous  men  in  various  parts  of  the  hall  began  cheer 
ing  for  Hicks,  shouting  and  clapping  their  hands, 
and  Hicks  and  Mrs.  Hicks,  standing  together,  lis 
tened  to  the  applause,  he  with  his  best  air  of  self- 
consecration,  and  she  frankly  pleased  at  the  out 
burst,  which  she  might  have  thought  was  spontaneous 
instead  of  accelerated. 

Lafferty  rapped  for  order  and  introduced  the 
pastor  of  Hicks's  church,  who  made  a  brief  prayer, 
laudatory  of  Hicks.  Lafferty  then  made  a  ten- 
minute  speech  in  which  he  eulogized  Hicks  as  the 
brilliant  young  Democrat  of  Rextown  who  had, 
even  in  his  brief  service  in  the  Senate,  shed  luster  on 
that  thriving  community,  and  prophesied  tremendous 
things  for  him  after  his  triumphant  election.  Hicks 
sat  with  his  head  bowed,  as  if  overwhelmed  by  the 
fervor  of  his  welcome. 

Lafferty  finished.  The  cheer  leaders  scattered 
through  the  hall  started  another  demonstration  as 
Hicks  arose  and  stepped  forward.  Boys  had  pre 
viously  distributed  small  American  flags,  and  some 
of  these  were  waved.  The  applause  continued. 
Hicks  raised  both  hands  as  if  to  still  it.  He  was 
calm,  smiling,  self-possessed. 

"S-s-sh-h-h!"  came  from  some  of  the  older  men. 
"Let's  hear  what  he  has  to  say." 

Hicks  was  never  in  better  form.  He  tremulously 
thanked  his  friends  and  neighbors  for  his  over 
whelming,  magnificent  and  unparalleled  testimonial 
of  their  affection  for  and  faith  in  him,  and  their 


THE    FAKERS  377 

appreciation  of  his  humble,  though  sincere,  labors 
in  the  cause  of  the  people.  Then  he  began  at  the 
beginning  and  told  all  he  knew.  He  exhibited  every 
oratorical  trick  he  had,  harped  on  every  theme  in 
his  stock,  was  eloquent,  flowery,  passionate,  de 
nunciatory,  pleading,  prayerful,  sobbed  some,  rose 
to  his  highest  flights,  and  consistently  held  to  the 
main  threads  of  his  discourse  which  were  three  in 
number:  exaltation  of  himself,  the  promise  of  every 
popular  reform  he  could  think  of  through  his  efforts, 
and  the  consecration  of  Hicks,  until  time  should 
end,  to  the  cause  of  the  people. 

His  peroration  was  a  combination  of  the  striking 
sentences  of  every  other  peroration  he  had  ever 
used.  They  could  hear  him  as  far  as  the  city  hall 
.when  he  pronounced  that,  and,  as  he  closed,  and 
sank,  as  if  overcome,  into  his  chair,  Mortimer  and 
McGinnis  rushed  to  the  edge  of  the  platform  and 
waved  their  little  flags  shouting  in  Unison :  "Hicks  ! 
Hicks!  Hicks!"  Those  in  the  audience  fluttered 
their  flags  and  joined  in  the  cry.  The  band  played 
"The  Star-Spangled  Banner."  Those  near  the  door 
began  to  go  out.  Lafferty,  as  soon  as  the  cheering 
had  died  down  a  bit,  rapped  loudly  with  his  gavel. 

"Fellow  Democrats!"  he  shouted,  "while  I  had 
supposed  the  meeting  would  conclude  with  the  speech 
of  Senator  Hicks  I  have  been  informed  that  the 
Honorable  Perkins  G.  Rollins,  our  esteemed  fellow- 
townsman  and  sterling  Democrat,  wishes  to  say  a 
few  words." 

Hicks  looked  up,  astonished.  He  saw  Rollins 
advancing  from  his  chair  to  the  clear  space  on  the 
platform.  Hicks  hurried  to  the  front. 

"Mr.  Chairman,"  he  said,  if  you  will  kindly  con 
sent  I  should  like  to  usurp  your  function  for  a 
moment  and  have  the  honor  and  the  pleasure  of 
introducing  my  old  and  valued  friend,  Perkins  G, 


378  THE   FAKERS 

Rollins,  to  this  magnificent  assemblage  of  Demo 
crats." 

Lafferty  bowed.  Hicks  went  to  the  table.  Rol 
lins  stood  a  few  feet  away  from  him,  looking  out 
over  the  interested  audience. 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  Hicks  began,  "I  can 
scarcely  find  words  in  which  to  phrase  the  pleasure 
I  feel  in  presenting  to  you  Perkins  G.  Rollins,  of 
Rextown,  known  to  all  of  you  as  a  righteous  and  up 
right  citizen  and  to  all  of  you  as  a  sterling  Demo 
crat  of  the  old  school.  It,  perhaps,  has  fallen  to 
my  fortunate  lot  to  know  Mr.  Rollins  better  than 
most  men  of  my  age,  for  I  have  been  associated 
with  him  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  people 
and  the  Democracy  ever  since  I  came  to  this  fair 
city  to  live  and  practice  my  profession.  He  was 
one  of  my  earliest  friends.  From  his  fount  of  po 
litical  wisdom  from  his  vast  store  of  political  saga 
city,  from  his  undeviating  adherence  to  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  Fathers,  from  his  pure  life,  from  his 
sterling  Democracy  I  have  drawn  my  inspiration 
for  the  work  to  which  I  have  devoted  my  life. 

"I  owe  much  to  Perkins  G.  Rollins  and,  in  in 
troducing  him  to  you  to-night,  I  desire  to  acknowl 
edge  that  obligation  as  freely  as  I  pay  testimony 
to  his  worth  as  a  citizen  and  an  American  and  to 
his  true  Democracy,  which  has  weathered  every 
storm,  has  stood  firm  in  times  of  stress,  and  now 
sees,  in  our  Democratic  successes,  the  triumph  of 
the  principles  for  which  he  has  so  valiantly  fought. 
Mr.  Rollins." 

Hicks  turned  to  Rollins,  and  bowed  low. 

Rollins,  taking  no  notice  of  Hicks,  walked  to 
the  table.  A  small  man,  dressed  in  a  dark-gray 
suit,  he  did  not  fit  in  the  picture.  He  was  pale. 
His  hands  trembled  a  little,  but  his  eyes  burned  and 
his  voice  was  clear  and  firm  when  he  spoke.  Hicks 


THE    FAKERS  379 

watched  him  narrowly,  wondering  what  he  had  in 
mind.  He  had  never  known  Rollins  to  make  a 
speech  before,  but  he  concluded  Rollins  had  decided 
to  let  bygones  be  bygones,  and  had  come  to  urge 
support  for  him. 

"Fellow  Democrats  of  Rextown,"  Rollins  began, 
"this  is  the  first  time  I  ever  made  a  speech  in  public. 
It  will  be  the  last  time.  The  reason  I  come  before 
you  to-night  is  because  I  have  something  to  say  that 
is  of  vital  importance  to  you,  as  residents  of  Rex- 
town,  and  as  American  citizens." 

"Ha!"  thought  Hicks,  settling  back  comfortably 
in  his  chair,  and  looking  at  Rollins  with  a  pleased 
smile,  "he  intends  to  urge  my  election." 

"You  all  heard  what  Senator  Hicks  said  in  his 
introduction  of  me,"  Rollins  continued,  evenly,  with 
no  attempt  at  oratory,  but  in  a  voice  that  reached 
the  ends  of  the  hall.  The  people  in  the  audience 
were  regarding  him  curiously.  Most  of  them  knew 
him,  but  not  as  a  campaign  orator. 

"All  that  Senator  Hicks  has  said  is  true,"  Rol 
lins  went  on.  "I  have  been  his  friend.  I  was  his 
earliest  friend  in  this  city.  I  have  been  in  politics 
with  him.  I  have  had  faith  in  him.  I  have  sup 
ported  him,  have  been  loyal  to  him,  have  stood  by 
him  through  good  and  evil  report,  and  have  felt  he 
was  sincere. 

"I  came  here  purposely  to  make  this  confession 
— for  it  is  a  confession.  I  do  not  desire  to  shirk 
any  responsibility  for  what  I  have  done,  and  I  want 
to  state  at  the  outset  of  my  remarks,  that  I,  also, 
accept  full  responsibility  for  what  I  have  to  say. 
I  came  here  to  make  this  confession,  but  I  came, 
also,  to  make  an  indictment  of  this  man — of  T.  Mar- 
maduke  Hicks,  now  unworthily  a  Senator  of  the 
United  States  by  grace  of  an  appointment  brought 
about  by  the  betrayal  not  only  of  me,  his  friend, 


38o  THE   FAKERS 

but  by  the  betrayal  of  you,  his  constituents.  I  came 
to- 

"Mr.  Chairman!"  shouted  Hicks,  jumping  to  his 
feet,  and  rushing  to  the  edge  of  the  platform. 
"Mr.  Chairman,  this  is  outrageous!  Am  I  to  be 
thus  denounced  in  the  house  of  my  friends?  I 
demand  that  this  man  cease  these  libels!  I  demand 
he  be  removed  from  the  hall.  I  demand 

The  people  were  excitedly  interested.  "Sit  down, 
Hicks!"  a  strong-voiced  man  yelled. 

"Sit  down,  and  let's  hear  what  he  has  to  say!" 

"Sit  down!"  shouted  others. 

"Goon,  Rollins  1" 

"Go  ahead!" 

"Sit  down!     Sit  down!" 

Hicks  paused  and  looked  around.  The  audience 
was  eager  for  Rollins.  Hicks  began  another  pro 
test,  waving  his  arms  wildly  and  shouting  at  the  top 
of  his  voice. 

"Sit  down,  Hicks!"  yelled  the  excited  crowd. 

"Sit  down  and  shut  up !     Let  him  talk." 

Rollins  stood  at  the  table,  looking  straight  ahead. 
Hicks  shouted  frantically.  Sweat  poured  from  his 
forehead.  Mrs.  Hicks  leaned  forward.  Her  face 
was  pale,  too,  and  her  lips  were  parted  as  she  gazed 
at  the  impassive  Rollins. 

"Go  on,  Rollins,  go  on!"  came  from  all  parts  of 
the  hall. 

"I  came  to  expose  this  man,"  said  Rollins.  "I 
came  to  tell  you  of  his  chicanery,  his  fraud,  his  in 
sincerity,  his  double-dealing,  his  hypocrisy,  his  trea 
son  to  me  and  to  you,  his  long  career  of  demagog- 
ism  and  deceit." 

The  hall  was  in  an  uproar  by  this  time.  Hicks's 
partisans  were  shouting  for  Hicks,  but  the  bulk  of 
those  present  loudly  demanded  Rollins  should  be 
heard.  The  reporters,  at  the  press  tables,  were 


THE    FAKERS  381 

taking  every  word  Rollins  said,  alert  for  each  de 
tail  of  the  sensation.  Mortimer  and  McGinnis 
tried  to  rush  Rollins  from  the  stage,  but  Lafferty 
and  some  others  interfered. 

"Let  him  talk!"  they  ordered,  and  Mortimer  and 
McGinnis  disappeared.  Hicks  was  shouting  at  the 
top  of  his  voice:  "I  protest!  I  protest!" 

After  a  time  the  clamor  of  those  who  desired  to 
hear  Rollins  prevailed  over  the  shouts  of  the  Hicks 
men,  and  Rollins  took  a  sheet  of  paper  from  his 
pocket.  The  hall  became  still.  Hicks  dropped 
into  a  chair. 

"I  have  set  it  all  down  here,"  said  Rollins.  "I 
have  written  it  all  out  and  signed  it.  I  am  re 
sponsible  for  what  I  am  to  say.  I  cannot  present 
my  documentary  proofs  here,  but  I  have  them  and 
will  exhibit  them  at  the  proper  time." 

Then,  as  if  he  were  a  judge,  reading  a  decision, 
he  read  from  his  paper: 

"First:  I  charge  and  can  prove  that  T.  Marma- 
duke  Hicks  obtained  his  appointment  to  the  United 
States  Senate  by  means  of  a  corrupt  deal  with  Peter 
B.  Dawson,  Governor  of  this  State,  by  which  the 
Corliss  County  delegation  was  thrown  to  Peter  B. 
Dawson,  by  tools  of  Hicks,  and  the  nomination  of 
Dawson  assured.  I  charge  that,  when  this  plot 
was  carried  out,  Senator  Hicks  was  absent,  on  a 
fake  plea  of  sickness,  that  he  had  made  this  deal 
with  Dawson  previously,  and  that  his  fake  sickness 
was  intended  as  a  ruse  to  protect  his  own  nefarious 
work.  I  have  the  statement  of  the  doctors  at  the 
hospital  where  he  went  that  he  was  not  sick  when 
he  went  there,  and  I  defy  Peter  B.  Dawson  to  give 
any  other  reason  for  the  appointment  of  Hicks  than 
this  political  deal. 

"Second:  I  charge  that,  in  the  municipal  cam 
paign  in  1907,  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks,  then  a  candi- 


382  THE    FAKERS 

date  for  alderman  of  the  Seventh  Ward  of  Rex- 
town,  on  the  Democratic-reform  ticket,  became 
aware  of  a  plot  of  the  street-car  company  to  stop  its 
cars  on  the  afternoon  of  election  day,  because  of  a 
fake  accident  in  its  power-house,  and  thereby  dis 
franchise  a  sufficient  number  of  voters  in  the  Fourth, 
Ninth,  Tenth  and  Sixteenth  wards  to  enable  them 
to  win  the  election.  I  charge  that  T.  Marmaduke 
Hicks  blackmailed  the  street-car  company  for  five 
thousand  dollars,  through  his  knowledge  of  this  plot, 
accepted  that  sum,  and  then  used  it  for  his  own  ad 
vertisement  by  acting  as  dishonestly  with  the  street 
car  people  as  he  had  in  the  original  instance  with 
you." 

There  were  wild  cries  of:  "How  about  it, 
Hicks?"  from  the  crowd.  Hicks  sat  huddled  in 
his  chair,  staring  at  the  floor. 

"Third:  I  charge  that  this  paragon  of  Democ 
racy  never  was  a  Democrat,  was  brought  up  as  a 
Republican  and  merely  joined  the  Democratic  party 
for  his  self-aggrandizement.  I  charge  that  his 
friendship  for  the  people  is  as  insincere  as  his  devo 
tion  to  Democracy.  I  charge  that  under  the  pro 
tection  of  Christian  religion  he  has  swindled  trust 
ing  old  women,  and  has  debauched  his  church  and 
himself.  I  charge  that  his  whole  career  has  been 
one  of  blatant  self-advertising,  hypocritical  pre 
tension,  gross  demagoguery  and  unscrupulous  ex 
ploitation  of  every  person  with  whom  he  has  come 
in  contact  for  his  own  selfish  personal  ends." 

Hicks  had  secured  control  of  himself  by  this 
time,  and  was  trying  to  maintain  an  attitude  of 
amused  contempt.  He  succeeded  fairly  well,  but 
his  heart  was  heavy  as  a  stone.  He  knew  Rollins 
could  prove  what  he  said.  Mrs.  Hicks,  after  listen 
ing  for  a  time,  had  quietly  and  quickly  left  the 
stage. 


THE    FAKERS  383 

"T  make  these  charges,"  continued  Rollins,  "fully 
aware  of  their  gravity,  and  I  make  them  because 
I  am  backed  with  incontrovertible  proof.  I  make 
them  because  I  am,  in  a  measure,  responsible  for 
this  blathering,  faking,  insincere,  hypocritical  faker, 
and  worse,  who  has  foisted  himself  on  the  people  of 
Rextown  and  our  State.  I  make  them — feeling  ab 
jectly  humiliated  because  of  my  friendship  for  this 
man,  my  lack  of  penetration  into  his  insincerities — 
because  I  do  not  purpose  to  have  him  returned  to 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  where  his  continued 
presence  would  reflect  on  the  integrity,  the  patriot 
ism,  the  Americanism,  and  the  honor  of  our  people 
and  our  State.  For  such  part  of  his  career  as  I 
have  been  responsible  I  meekly  ask  your  forgive 
ness." 

Rollins  turned  to  Hicks.  He  seemed  to  grow  in 
stature.  He  walked  over  to  Hicks,  and,  standing 
in  front  of  him,  shouted:  "And  I  challenge  Sen 
ator  T.  Marmaduke  Hicks  to  refute  one  of  my 
statements.  I  defy  him  to  show  any  untruth  in 
my  charges,  and  I  leave  him  in  the  hands  of  the 
people — the  people  whom  he  has  betrayed  and  de 
ceived  from  the  first  day  he  came  into  this  com 
munity." 


CHAPTER    XLIII 

THE  meeting  was  a  mob  by  this  time. 
Hicks  sprang  forward  and  tried  to  reply, 
but  the  noise  and  confusion  were  too 
great.  He  summoned  all  his  strength 
and  screamed:  "He  lies!  He  lies!  I 
can  disprove  all  he  says!" 

He  soon  saw  that  he  could  not  get  a  hearing 
and  he  hastened  to  his  headquarters,  where  he  dic 
tated  a  long  and  detailed  denial  of  every  charge 
Rollins  had  made.  Rollins  had  prepared  a  state 
ment  for  the  press,  which  he  handed  to  the  excited 
reporters,  and  the  news  was  telegraphed  to  every 
part  of  the  State,  and  to  most  of  the  papers  in 
the  big  cities  outside  the  State.  Hicks  spent  hun 
dreds  of  dollars  telegraphing  his  denial  to  the  State 
papers. 

Rollins  had  prepared  himself  thoroughly.  He 
had  spent  the  summer  in  getting  his  material  to 
gether.  He  visited  Dawson,  and  Dawson,  angered 
by  Hicks's  assumption  of  State  leadership,  and 
anxious  to  have  Broughton  in  the  Senate,  while 
refusing  to  give  Rollins  any  details  of  the  conven 
tion  deal,  made  it  easy  for  Rollins  to  get  ample 
proof  from  men  who  were  in  the  confidence  of 
Dawson  and  took  responsibility  for  what  had  been 
done.  This  treachery  made  a  stronger  case  against 
Hicks  to  Rollins  than  to  many  others,  for  it  was 
held  to  be  a  political  deal,  and  somewhat  excusable 
under  that  head,  but  there  were  thousands  of  Mul- 

384 


THE    FAKERS  385 

ford  men  in  the  State  and  thousands  of  anti-Dawson 
men  who  were  much  impressed  and  very  angry 
over  it. 

Rollins  had  been  to  Washington.  He  was  a  good 
investigator,  and  he  soon  discovered  the  former  re 
lations  between  Hicks  and  Paxton.  He  visited  Pax- 
ton  at  his  summer  place  on  the  North  Shore  of 
Massachusetts.  Paxton,  much  angered  over  the 
vote  of  Hicks,  and  suffering  from  a  considerable 
loss  of  prestige  because  the  bill,  which  had  been 
placed  in  his  charge  for  defeat,  was  passed — a 
loss  of  prestige  among  the  men  of  big  affairs  who 
relied  upon  him  to  help  them  out  of  just  such 
legislative  difficulties — had  told  his  story  freely  to 
Rollins.  Paxton  sent  to  Washington  and  secured 
the  letters  from  Hicks  about  the  five  thousand  dol 
lars  of  street-car  money.  This  letter  Rollins  had. 

On  Saturday  the  Rextown  papers  carried  not  only 
the  sensational  stories  of  the  scene  in  the  hall,  but 
the  charges  of  Rollins  in  full,  backed  by  the  circum 
stantial  details  of  the  State  convention  episode;  the 
sworn  statement  of  Paddy  Ross,  Jenkins  and  Ros- 
coe  that  it  was  the  plan  to  stop  the  street  cars  on 
election  afternoon  because  of  a  fake  accident  in  the 
power-house;  the  affidavit  of  Roscoe,  then  retired 
and  living  in  California,  that  he  paid  Hicks  five 
thousand  dollars  to  suppress  the  story,  on  the 
solicitation  of  Hicks;  the  affidavit  of  Pendleton, 
president  of  the  First  National  Bank,  that  on  the 
day  of  the  attempted  bribery  Roscoe  drew  five  thou 
sand  dollars,  in  hundred-dollar  bills,  from  the  bank, 
and  a  facsimile  of  the  letter  Hicks  wrote  to  Senator 
Paxton,  which  showed  the  only  motive  he  had  in  not 
accepting  the  money  was  because  he  thought  there 
was  more  advertising  for  him  in  the  public  exploita 
tion  of  the  fact  that  he  had  not  taken  it. 

Every  daily  paper  in  the  State  had  printed  the 


386  THE    FAKERS 

story  and  the  facsimiles  before  Tuesday.  Hicks 
worked  ceaselessly  to  counteract  the  charges.  Rol 
lins  said  no  more.  Mrs.  Hicks  remained  in  her 
room.  Hicks  saw  her  only  once  in  the  three  days 
between  the  meeting  and  the  election. 

A  few  of  his  friends  were  at  his  headquarters 
on  election  night.  The  early  returns  showed  Mul- 
ford  was  running  ahead,  with  Broughton  second,  and 
Hicks  third.  Before  nine  o'clock  it  was  evident 
Hicks  was  disastrously  beaten.  At  ten  o'clock 
all  his  friends  had  left.  He  walked  to  the  Metrop 
olis  Hotel,  where  a  group  of  Mulford  partisans 
were  noisily  celebrating  Mulford's  victory.  Hicks 
held  himself  well.  He  greeted  the  celebrants,  sent 
a  telegram  of  congratulations  to  Mulford,  and  went 
up  to  his  room. 

He  took  off  his  coat,  ran  his  fingers  through  his 
long  hair,  and  looked  at  himself  in  the  glass.  He 
was  pale.  There  were  bags  under  his  eyes.  His 
hand  trembled  a  little.  He  gazed  at  his  pallid  re 
flection  and  said,  half  aloud:  "Well,  Tommie, 
they  landed  you  that  time — they  surely  landed  you 
that  time." 

He  sat  down  in  a  chair  and  reviewed  his  whole 
career.  The  cloak  of  self-deceit  that  he  had  been 
wearing  dropped  away.  He  was  the  old  Tommie 
Hicks,  the  faker,  the  adventurer,  once  more,  and 
he  saw  clearly  that  he  had  been  too  eager  for  ad 
vertisement  in  that  street-car  matter.  He  might 
have  taken  the  money,  been  that  much  richer,  and 
no  one  would  have  been  the  wiser.  He  reproached 
himself  for  letting  Paxton  into  his  confidence,  and 
he  reproached  himself  for  breaking  with  Paxton. 
He  had  always  considered  the  Dawson  deal  as 
politics,  and  had  no  regrets  for  that.  He  wondered 
if  he  could  rehabilitate  himself. 

"Probably  not,"  he  said.     "I  guess  it's  all  over 


THE    FAKERS  387 

for  me  along  my  particular  line  in  these  parts,  but 
now  what — now  what?  I  suppose  I  can  bluff  it 
out,"  and  he  smiled  wearily,  "but  I'm  tired  of  the 
pose." 

He  rose  and  walked  around  the  room.  "Damn 
the  people!"  he  said.  "When  I  tried  to  be  square 
with  them  I  got  the  worst  of  it.  If  I  had  voted 
against  that  bill  this  never  would  have  happened. 
Damn  the  people!  I " 

There  was  a  rap  on  his  door. 

"Come  in,"  he  said. 

Mrs.  Hicks  entered.  She  was  dressed  in  a  gray 
tailored  suit,  and  was  fascinatingly  gray  from 
head  to  foot — hat — shoes — gloves — bag — her  color 
scheme  correct  to  the  minutest  details. 

"Some  of  the  clothes  I  bought,"  he  thought,  but 
he  threw  as  much  emotion  as  he  could  into  the 
"Alys!"  with  which  he  greeted  her. 

She  stood  looking  at  him  serenely,  her  hand  on 
the  knob  of  the  door. 

"I  am  glad  you  came  to  me,"  he  continued,  en 
deavoring  to  speak  feelingly.  "I  need  your  con 
solation.  It  has  been  a  hard  experience.  I  am 
beaten,"  and  he  tried  to  get  a  hopeful  ring  in  his 
voice,  "but  not  for  long.  Truth  is  mighty  and  must 
prevail." 

"It  seems  to  me,  Marmaduke,"  she  replied,  "that 
it  has  prevailed." 

"Surely  you  do  not  believe  these  calumnies?" 

"What  difference  does  it  make  whether  I  do  or 
not.  They  have  had  their  effect,  and  I  am  off  for 
Paris."  t 

"Paris?     What  do  you  mean?" 

"I  mean  I  am  leaving  on  the  midnight  train  for 
New  York,  and  I  shall  sail  for  Paris  on  Friday." 

"But  why  Paris?" 

"Oh,  I  have  thought  it  all  out.     I  cannot  take 


388  THE    FAKERS 

life  with  you  here.  It  means  nothing  to  me  to  be 
the  wife  of  ex-Senator  Hicks  at  any  place  in 
America,  at  any  place  you  may  go,  and  much  less 
in  this  miserable  Rextown  than  elsewhere.  I  can 
make  it  mean  a  great  deal  to  me  in  Paris.  They 
won't  hear  of  these  things  over  there,  you  know," 
and  she  smiled  at  him. 

"But,"  he  said,  advancing  towards  her,  "I  don't 
understand." 

"I  haven't  tried  to  explain,  but  you  should  have 
intelligence  enough  to  comprehend  that  with  that 
title  of  Mrs.  Senator  Hicks  I  can  get  recognition 
in  Paris — I  can  get  it — with  my  abilities  for  obtain 
ing  what  I  want — that  would  never  come  to  me 
here.  And  I  hate  this  miserable  imitation  of  a 
city,  this  Rextown,  and  I  am  going  to  realize  on 
what  I  have  while  there  is  time." 

She  took  her  hand  from  the  knob,  buttoned  a 
button  of  one  of  her  gloves,  smoothed  down  her 
coat  in  front,  fussed  for  a  moment  with  her  veil, 
brushed  back  a  lock  of  hair.  Then  she  opened  a 
door,  daintily  blew  him  a  kiss  and  said : 

uGood-by — Tommie — good " 

Hicks  sprang  forward  and  caught  her  by  the 
arm. 

"Hold  on!"  he  cried,  excitedly.  "Hold  on!  If 
there  is  anything  to  be  done  with  my  title  of  Senator 
in  Paris  I'll  go  with  you  and  get  my  share." 


THE    END 


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